Phantoms of Amity Park
by Gesshoku2008
Summary: The beginning of Danny's junior year, a mysterious young woman starts working for Mayor Vlad Master's, as his new secretary. Unknown to Danny and Vlad, the three of them have a common thread that goes back hundreds of years. A very dangerous thread.
1. Chapter 1

Phantoms of Amity Park

Chapter 1

The one who made me once described the Ghost Realm to me:

_The Ghost Realm is like a glass bottle, containing layers of separated liquid inside. Where I live and where you have traveled makes up the middle two layers, intermingling with each other, free to travel in between as you wish. It is where Ghosts, the restless, and Spirits, their more powerful counterparts, reside._

_At the very bottom, is a level where none are allowed to go and is quarantined by an impenetrable barrier, set in place hundreds of years ago, from which no one can enter and no one can exit. This is where the most powerful evil spirits live, plotting an escape that will never occur; know by man as Demons._

_At the very top is the opposite, where the most holy and chastened of spirits call home; known by man as Angels. However, this section of the realm has also been quarantined, but not by any outside force, but by the Angels themselves. The exact reason for the self-exile has been lost to all inhabitants of the Ghost Realm, but many speculate it is because the Angels had lost their faith in the humans that they serve._

Danny Fenton sat at the breakfast table eating his cereal, black hair unbrushed, bags under his bright blue eyes. The kitchen TV behind him was turned on to the local news station. The first day of school was never his best day, especially when he had stayed out most of the night the night before chasing down Ghosts.

Two years ago, a freak accident turned Danny into something extraordinary, a half ghost, or halfa as the other ghosts that he came across almost immediately started calling him. Instead of hiding himself away, he took his new powers and ability to shift into a ghostly form and made the decision to protect his hometown of Amity Park. But after two years, Danny was beginning to resign himself to the normalcy of his not so normal life.

He was beginning his junior year at Casper High this year, he felt like it feel… different somehow. Over the last summer, Sam and his relationship had grown even more awkward; now he can't even look at her without feeling his cheeks heat up and worry that his face is turning red. Tucker teases him every moment he can about it… when he's not showing off some new gadget he got from that tech website he swears by; how he manages to afford all his gadgets, Danny still has no idea. Oh and he can't forget about his greatest annoyance, Vlad Masters, who seemed to have grown even more insufferable over the past few months then the past couple years put together.

"Now for today's news from the mayor's office," said the news caster on the TV.

Danny groaned, _speak of the devil_. But turned in his chair anyway to see was his nemesis was up to this time.

Instead on Vlad's face on the screen, however, next to the face of the news caster was the picture of a pretty 20-something year old girl with long reddish-orange hair put up in a ponytail, hairs that weren't quite long enough hanging loosely out of the hair tie, bangs feathering out to the side, and bright blue eyes. Danny had to blink the sleep out of his eyes to make sure he was seeing the screen right. This wasn't a story about Vlad?

"Due to the overflow of work in the Mayor's office, Mayor Vlad Master's has hired a secretary. Not much is known about this young lady except that she is 25 years old and her name is Anna Marie VanRatten." The news caster continued. "Also from the Mayor's desk, the ribbon cutting ceremony for Casper High's first indoor pool will be held after school hours today. All students are invited to attend and to sign up for the new Casper High swim team, signups will be available in the lunch room during regular lunch hours."

With that, the news caster went on to other news.

_Gossip… of course_, Danny turned back to his breakfast. _Vlad hires a secretary and it makes the news. I do remember something about a pool being built at the school over the summer though. I think Sam had brought up when we had gone to the water park in July…_ Danny's cheeks blushed at the thought of Sam.

"Arg! What is wrong with me!" Danny haphazardly dropped his spoon into his bowl in order to slap his cheeks. All he really achieved was splashing milk and soggy cheerios all over himself.

School was about as good as Danny had expected, he had met up with Tucker and Sam before the homeroom bell, fighting back blush every time he met Sam's eyes. It had only been a day since had seen her! Danny yelled at himself to get a grip.

The bullies were all the same, only difference now was that Danny had grown a few inches over the summer, so he was up to their shoulder high now, making him not as easy as a target. Dash and his friend have not changed, however, still taking time out of their days to pick on him even though he wasn't a shrimp anymore.

There was some excitement during lunch, when the signup table for the swim team was finally open. There was a long line of boys at the table. One look however told Danny, Tucker, and Sam the real why. Vlad's new secretary was heading the recruitment for the swim team; wearing a whistle around her neck, hair still up in a ponytail, and a pair of dark sunglasses perched on top of her head. The picture the news caster had showed had not done her justice, she was prettier in person. Standing next to her was Mr. Lancer in a disturbing pair of Casper High colored swimming trunks and a white sleeveless shirt, also with a whistle around his neck; obviously having volunteered to be the coach of the team.

"That has to be one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen," Tucker said as they sat at a lunch table.

"No kidding," Sam said, "I hope he doesn't start wearing that every day."

Danny laughed and brandished his plastic utensil, "If he does, I'll take my eyes out with this spork."

The other two joined in the laughing and Tucker said, "I'll join you with that. At least Vlad's secretary is nice to look at though."

"I don't understand why the news made such a big deal about her," Sam said, stabbing a bit of lettuce with her spork.

"Cause that's all there is about her," Tucker answered.

"How?" Danny asked.

"Don't know," Tucker shrugged then noticed his friends' looks of surprise. "Hey! There are some things that I can't find! I looked up the name and all I got was some corrupted data from Georgia."

"Georgia?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you remember that big virus that was all over the news a few weeks ago? Apparently it hit the State Census Office. From what I hear, hundreds of files were lost."

"Could explain why there's so little information on her," Danny said. "But still, the news didn't even say anything about where she was from, her schooling, anything! Wouldn't they interview her to find out the stuff they didn't know?"

"Apparently she's been too busy to take interviews," Tucker answered.

"Vlad going off to find new ways to destroy me and steal away mom must be piling up the work for her," Danny said flatly.

Sam sighed, "Guess I do feel sorry for her. It can't be easy working for a crazy man."

"I know I wouldn't want to work for him," Danny said.

"Well, that's obvious," Tucker laughed.

Danny looked back to look at the young lady named Anna Marie, accidently catching her eyes. She smiled at him before turning her attention to the next boy in line.

_That was strange,_ Danny thought, turning back to his lunch. _I have the feeling that she was watching me._

Danny decided to skip the ribbon cutting of the pool, telling Sam and Tucker to go ahead to the ceremony without him. He wasn't interested in being in the same room as Vlad after everything the man had pulled over the summer. Danny needed a break from the man, if for only a day or two.

Danny had his eyes on the floor, doing his best to weave his way around the students heading in the opposite direction, deciding that sticking close to the lockers was the best course of action. As he passed Mr. Lancer's office, however, he ran into someone coming out the doorway. Papers and folders flew to the ground, ruining whatever order they may have been in, the owner of the papers falling on her backside. Danny was jarred backwards.

Realizing what had happened; Danny shook the cobwebs out of his head and rushed to pick up the mess. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to…" Danny looked up to find himself face to face with Anna Marie VanRatten. "You're…"

"It's okay," She smiled warmly, moving to sit on her knees and pick up papers as well. "I'm a bit of a klutz myself. Mind off daydreaming and not paying attention to where my feet are taking me."

"I didn't say I was a klutz…" Danny's cheeks puffed in a childish pout.

Anna laughed, covering her mouth with a delicate left hand. Danny blinked, noticing the gold ring on her ring finger, a small expensive diamond perched purposefully on top. An engagement ring, like the kind his sister used to always stare at in jewelry store windows, the kind that cost hundreds of dollars.

"Sorry," She brought him out of his thoughts. "I didn't mean to insult you. My name is Anna Marie."

She held out her hand and, after a moment's hesitation, Danny took it and shook, "Danny Fenton. I heard about you on the news this morning. You're Vlad's new secretary."

"Oh… the news," Anna said with distaste. "They do like to talk, don't they?"

"When there's nothing more exciting to talk about, they like to spread the latest gossip," Danny shrugged with a sympathetic smile.

Anna sighed, starting to sort the papers back into their proper folders, "They wanted to interview me, can you believe that?!"

Danny shook his head with faked shock, for her benefit, handing her a stack of papers he had picked up.

"I told them I was too busy to sit for an interview," she continued, taking the papers. "Which is true, but it won't always be. I wonder how long I can get away with it if I keep telling them that."

"Wouldn't attempt it for too long," Danny shrugged up his shoulders. "They'll grow suspicious."

"Good point," She took a moment to scratch her head. "Ah! What am I going to do!? I don't want people digging into my business."

"I'm sure you'll figure something out," Danny laughed as Anna stood. He stood as well.

Anna adjusted the files in her arms, "Thanks for your help, Danny. Mind walking me out? I don't remember where the door is and I'm afraid I'll get lost."

"Sure!" Danny said and began leading Anna out. _What am I doing? She's Vlad's secretary, isn't she? She could be sent by him to spy on me!_

"I know this is kind of weird to say," Anna began, bringing Danny out of his thoughts again. "But I actually know a little about you too."

"Wha…?"

"Mr. Master's talks about you sometimes," Anna smiled, "Though, not always in the best tone of voice."

Danny rubbed the bridge of his nose in between his fingers, _I'd bet_.

"Talks about your mother too, a lot actually," Anna said thoughtfully. "Keeps using words like _win over_ and _get back_."

"HE'S NOT GOING TO!" Danny's temper flared, his voice rising in response to the statements.

Anna stopped walking immediately, turning to look back at Danny, who had stopped a few paces behind. "Danny?"

The hallway had completely emptied by this point.

"Mom is happy with Dad, why can't he see that and be happy for her because of it?!" Danny said, the volume of his voice had lowered, but rage was still laced in every word. "Why does he have to be so selfish!?"

Anna didn't say anything at first, she waited till Danny's fists unclenched and then chose her next words carefully. "I'm sorry, Danny. I didn't mean to upset you. I won't bring it up again."

"Right!" Danny said, "How do I know I can trust you? You could be working for Vlad to help him take Mom away!"

"Not every adult is the enemy, Danny." Anna said bluntly, a sad look entering her eyes, taking Danny aback. "I'm trying to be your friend. Just because I work for someone you don't like doesn't automatically make me evil."

Danny took a step back, "I… I didn't…"

"Just think about that, okay?" Anna gave a small smile. "I can find my way from here. Have a good night, Danny."

Anna headed toward her car in the administrative parking lot of the school, but stopped momentarily when she noticed a large limousine parked next to her car, Vlad Master's leaning against her driver's side door.

_He does like to make a show of things, doesn't he?_ Anna sighed then headed over.

Vlad was actively looking at his watch, his foot tapping against the pavement. He heard her approach and pushed himself off of her car.

"It took you long enough," he said impatiently.

"Sorry sir," she responded. "I had a bit of an accident. Here's the report and speech for the ceremony."

She handed him the folder on the top of her pile, which he snapped out her hands opened, quickly scanning over the contents.

She shifted awkwardly on the spot, glancing up at him and back down at her feet. He noticed.

"You have something you want to say?"

Anna shook her head, "No, not really. Well, I did run into Danny Fenton today."

Vlad let out a deep chuckle, closing the file. "Ungrateful child, isn't he? I offer him everything in the world for him, his mother, and his sister and what does he do? Practically spits in my face. He'll see it's for the best when I finally get Maddie on my side."

"I wonder though…" Anna said, making Vlad stop as he stepped around her and towards to school. "You love Danny's mother, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Vlad turned toward Anna, brows knitted together. "You're point?"  
"I was just thinking," Anna continued, "At your age, shouldn't it be more important to make the person you love happy, no matter what it means for you, instead of what you want?"

Vlad stood stunned, staring at the young woman he had hired not two weeks ago. He opened his mouth to chastise her, but was interrupted.

"Just a thought," She gave him a big smile. "Then again, what do I know? I'm only 25, right? And look at me! I'm just keeping you from the ceremony longer! You better go. I'll see you at the office tomorrow, Sir."

Without another word or giving the man a chance to respond, Anna got in her car and drove away, leaving Vlad in a stunned silence. Anna watched Vlad get smaller in her rearview mirror, heaving a deep sigh then looked down at her ring.

_Victor…_


	2. Chapter 2

Phantoms of Amity Park

Chapter 2

Danny was surprised by the lack of ghost activity that night. He lapped around town a couple times, stopping by each hot spot where the most likely culprits hung out, but there was nothing. It was an oddly quiet night and it made him uneasy. Not even that annoying box ghost was at the shipping company, his favorite haunt.

Danny looked up at the large clock tower in the center of town. It wasn't even ten yet. Bored and annoyed, Danny headed back towards home, only to stop when a chill ran up his spin and a breath of cold air exited his lungs.

It was about time!

He searched around him for an attacker, but found none.

"What the…" Danny started, but stopped when he noticed a ghost floating away from him instead of toward him. "Hey!"

The ghost heard him, turning its head toward him, but not stopping its flight. Danny gave chase, taking note of what the ghost looked like incase he lost it. It was a young woman in a strange brass colored Colonial style dress, her hair long and flowing in a stream of bluish green behind her, as she turned to look at him again he saw her eyes, glowing an eerie green. Her face was familiar, where had he seen her before?

He noticed that she was starting to speed up, "Wait! Aren't you going to fight me?"

Her speed continued to increase, faster and faster, until Danny couldn't keep up with her. He could only stop and float, watching as she became nothing more than a streak of brass colored energy across the night sky.

_Holy cow! How can she be that fast?!_

Danny waited there for a bit longer, watching the energy fade and the sky return to its blanket of black, dotted by small pinpricks of stars.

_I wonder who that was_.

ooooo

Danny had to turn into his ghost form and fly to school the next morning. Despite the lack of activity last night, he had stayed out late anyway trying to find that mysterious female ghost. As a result, he slept through his alarm clock and was almost late meeting up with Sam and Tucker.

He appeared out from behind the school dumpster as him normal self, looking disheveled, his backpack slung over one shoulder.

"Busy night?" Tucker held back a laugh.

"No actually," Danny answered, taking a comb that Sam handed him. After a while, Sam started keeping such things in her backpack for him, especially after long nights that caused him to accidently sleep in. "There weren't any of the usual ghosts out last night."

"Not even Box Ghost?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

Danny paused in brushing his hair to shake his head, "I check the shipping company, and he was gone too."

"Weird," Tucker said. "Even on the slowest nights there were at least one or two small ghosts out causing trouble."

"Well, there was one ghost out last night, one I didn't recognize." Danny said thoughtfully. "It was weird though, she didn't fight me. She just… ran away. Really fast too! I couldn't keep up with her."

"What'd she look like?" Sam asked, interested.

"Bluish-green hair, old dress, dark orange color," Danny described what he remembered. "Oh! And her eyes were green."

Tucker took out his palm-pale, tapping the screen a couple times with the stylus before turning the screen towards Danny. The ghost was there on the screen, in active flight, a trail of brass colored energy streaming behind her.

"That's her!" Danny exclaimed. "Where did you…?

"This picture was all over the news this morning," Tucker explained. "There have been sightings of her for the past couple weeks, but no pictures."

"First time I'm hearing of this," Danny said.

"Same here," Sam shrugged. "Apparently everyone who claimed to have spotted her just… forgot about it the very next day. Suspicious, huh? It's like this ghost is wiping itself from their memories, like it just wants to be left alone."

"That's what it seems like," Tucker agreed. "And the fact that it ran away from you instead of confronting you."

"Makes sense," Danny also agreed. "Maybe she isn't a mean spirit. I guess if she just wants to be left alone, I have no problem with her being here. I'll keep my guard up though, I'm not gonna be tricked."

"Good idea," Sam said, as she took the comb back from Danny and they made their way to the front of the school and inside.

"So how was the ribbon cutting yesterday?" Danny changed the subject, ghost talk being still an odd thing to talk about in packed school hallways.

"Just as you thought," Sam waved a dismissive hand. "About fifteen minutes of Vlad talking boring nonsense, you could see that he wanted to be elsewhere."

"Probably wanted to go back to his experiments," Danny said with distaste, coming to his locker and turning the nob.

"Then Mr. Lancer took over and started his usual school spirit speech," Sam continued. "Everybody clapped, ribbon was cut, and we all went home; was a very touching experience." The last part was dripping with Sam's usual sarcasm.

Danny chuckled, "wasn't as exciting as when I tried to leave."

"What do you mean?" Tucker asked.

Danny suddenly wished he hadn't said anything, "Well, I literally ran into Vlad's secretary as she was coming out of Mr. Lancer's office."

"Literally?" Sam's eyebrow was up again.

With that, Danny started explaining what had happened the day before, including his explosion at her. There really wasn't any point in not telling them about it, he would end up telling them at some point anyway. When he finished, they were making their way to their homeroom class, Sam was looking at Danny expectantly.

"I messed up, I know," Danny answered her look. "She was just trying to be nice to me and I yell at her."

"Maybe you should go see her and apologize," Tucker suggested and Sam nodded in agreement.

"I don't know where she lives!" Danny exclaimed.

"We know where she works," Sam said, we'll just go to the Mayor's office after school.

Danny sputtered in disbelief, "Go to the Mayor's office!? What if I run into Vlad?"

"I doubt he'd try to kill you in front of everyone," Tucker said bluntly.

Danny tried to think of a rebuttal to that, but Tucker was right. Vlad's reputation was just as important to him as his goals and he wouldn't risk losing either of them just because Danny showed up to his office.

Danny huffed, "Fine."

ooooo

The three headed to the mayor's city government building right after school. The large, three story, white ornate building was situated right in the center of town and housed all the important departments for maintaining Amity Park. The Mayor's office was on the top floor. They made their way up to see Anna sitting at a large desk to the left of a set of solid wooden doors; Vlad's office.

Anna looked up and, seeing Danny, stood up smiling, "Danny! This is a surprise."

"Sorry," Danny said, shifting awkwardly. "I just…"

"It's okay," Anna shifted papers around on her desk, the smile still on her face. "I've been due for a break anyway. You and your friends showing up gives me a good excuse to stop working for a bit. Hold on."

She went around to the doors and cracked one open, sticking her head inside. "Mr. Master's, I'm going for a coffee break. Do you want me to bring you some back?"

Danny, Sam, and Tucker didn't hear any voice from inside, but Anna said, "Alright, I'll bring you a cup anyway."

She shut the door again and turned back to Danny and his friends, "Sorry, he's in a bit of a sour mood. He tried to sneak out of here earlier but I dragged him back. You wouldn't believe the pile of paperwork that's on his desk!"

"We'd believe it," The three said in unison, making Anna laugh.

"Sorry, I haven't introduced myself to your friends." Anna apologized.

"It's okay, we already know who you are," Sam said. "The news thing, you know?"  
"This is Sam and Tucker," Danny said and Anna shook both their hands.

"Nice to meet you," Anna smiled. "Let's go to the break room, all this noise is just going to make certain people even more annoyed."

Anna escorted them to a small room with a table and a countertop space containing a small fridge, microwave, and coffee machine. Danny and his friends sat themselves at the table as Anna poured herself a mug of coffee.

"Would you like any?" Anna offered the pot.

They shook their heads and Anna chuckled, "Sorry, I keep forgetting that your just kids still."

She replaced the pot and leaned against the countertop, hold the warm mug between her palms, "Don't be offended if I don't sit down, I've been sitting all day."

"It's fine," Danny said then caught the expectant looks from Sam and Tucker. "Um…"

Anna looked up from the sip she was about to take and Danny continued, "I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I got angry at you and you didn't do anything."

Anna lowered her mug and smiled again, "Apology accepted, Danny. I wasn't upset, you know. It's a touchy subject for you, I see that. I won't bring it up again."

"You're awfully understanding for an adult," Sam said.

Anna shrugged her shoulders, "I understand the concept of things that are painful to talk about. I've got a few things myself that I cause me to get emotional, so I avoid talking about them."

Danny saw her glance down at her ring. Tucker must have noticed too, because he quickly changed the subject.

"So, Anna, you must be from Georgia, right?"

Anna looked up at Tucker, shocked, "Pardon?"

"Well, there's not very much information on you. The news people could have easily done a search on you, but the only person with your name is from Georgia and Georgia's Census Bureau was hit by that big virus a few weeks ago, so all your records are corrupted."

Anna blinked a couple times in disbelief, "How do you…?"

"Tucker's a bit of a hacker," Sam said. "If there's a computer out there, he can get into it."

"I see," Anna was next to raise an eyebrow. "Looking to be another Jonathan James, huh?"

"No way!" Tucker raised his hands as if defending himself. "I don't want to go to prison!"

They all laughed, well everyone but Tucker, who eventually broke down and smiled a little. It was just a joke after all and Anna was one of the easiest going adults any of them had ever met.

"It must be difficult not having any records of yourself," Sam said.

"It is," Anna sighed. "I was quite surprised that Mr. Master's hired me, with how little information there is about me. I had lost my birth certificate and social security card in a fire a long time ago, so I didn't even have those."

"You never got them replaced?!" Danny asked, surprised.

"Didn't really have a reason to till I moved out here," Anna answered.

"Wouldn't your family back home have copies of your certificates?" Sam asked.

A sad look crossed over Anna's face again and she set her now empty mug on the counter, "I don't really have any family any more. I'm all that's left."

_Fire!?_Danny thought and looked at Sam and Tucker.

They were looking at him with the same looks of realization on their faces that he must have been wearing. Having lost her family and with no record of her because of that virus, Anna Marie VanRatten was like … a living Ghost.

ooooo

With Anna's coffee break over, Danny and his friends had to leave. Danny felt bad for Anna and offered to hang out with her this coming Saturday, realizing that she must not have any friends as of yet. Anna had refused at first, but Sam and Tucker pushed, saying that they'd have plenty of time to hang out with Danny in the evening. She eventually agreed with a happier smile then she had had a few minutes before.

Anna returned to her section of the office with a new mug filled with coffee. She opened the door to Vlad's office and stepped inside, closing the door behind her.

"Here you go, nice and hot," she said with a smile, setting the mug down next to the man.

The pile was large, but she had exaggerated it a little for Danny's benefit. In reality, it was important paperwork having to do with the old storage facilities on the west side of town. They had been destroyed by a ghost attack a few months back and the decision had yet to be made whether the facilities were worth rebuilding or not.

"Here," Vlad handed her the document. "Take this over to housing and development."

Anna nodded and took a quick glance at the paper, her smile grew bigger. "You're replacing the storage facility with citizen housing?"

Vlad took the next document off the pile, not even bothering to look up, "Those facilities were a liability even before they were torn down; ghosts were drawn to the place."

Anna giggled, "Sounds like a better plan. Build housing then make money back to the city in the maintenance, water, and electric bills."

"That would be the idea."

Anna started to make her way out of the office, but stopped at the door and turned around. "Sir, may I ask why you hired me? There's hardly any proof as to who I am, I could have just claimed to be Anna Marie VanRatten."

"You don't seem like the kind of person to do something like that," Vlad sounded annoyed by the question. "Besides, you're competent at the work. That's really all I need. Is there anything else?"

Anna shook her head, "No, I'll get this over there now. Thank you."

With that, she left. Vlad watched her leave, once the door had left he glanced over at the picture of Maddie he had sitting on his desk. It was a picture he had left over from their college days, when she would have been about Anna's age. There was a resemblance there, but it could just be that he was imagining it, and he couldn't deny that it was one reason why he hired the young lady.


	3. Chapter 3

Phantoms of Amity Park

Chapter 3

The strange lack of ghosts was starting to get to Danny by the time Friday came around. It became a nightly ritual, going out a searching for any trace of the usual ghosts that he used to fight, but he found none. The only ghost he ever came across was that new lady ghost with the brass colored colonial dress, but even then she never stuck around. It seemed that whenever he caught a glimpse of her, she would fly away with that speed that Danny couldn't follow.

Danny had brought it back up to Sam and Tucker at school that day. After four straight nights of the lack of activity the two of them had come to the same conclusion that Danny had, that new ghost had to be the reason for it, but how and why?

They met up that night to get their answers, but she didn't show. They had waited impatiently on a roof next to the clock tower, where Danny usually sees her, until far past midnight; past the usual time when she passes by that spot.

"How strange," Sam commented, looking through a pair of ghost detecting binoculars that Danny had brought from his parent's lab. "You're sure this is the direction she appears from?"

Danny nodded, floating a few feet above them in his ghost form, "Positive, she comes from the direction of the lake, makes a loop around the tower then heads in the direction of the mall. I don't know where she goes from there. I try to follow her, but she always outflies me."

"Three weeks…" Sam said thoughtfully.

"What's up?" Tucker asked as Sam put down the binoculars.

"Probably nothing," Sam shook her head.

"What?" Danny floated down to their level.

Sam looked between the two of them and shrugged, "Well, I was just thinking that it's quite a coincidence. It was about three weeks ago when Anna Marie moved here."

"Yeah?"

"The sightings of this new ghost started about three weeks ago too," Sam continued. "Then there's the fact that there is no information on her, no physical or digital proof that Anna Marie VanRatten really exists except that the name appears in Georgia."

"That virus wiped out most of their records and her data is corrupted, remember?" Tucker reminded her. "I've been checking on it, it's still corrupted."

"You think she's this ghost?" Danny's eyes widened.

Sam threw her arms out, "I don't know, there's just a lot that is happening around the same time, you know? Maybe you can get some more information out of her when you meet with her tomorrow." She looked up at Danny, "She connects with you for some reason; maybe she'll open up to you more if it's just the two of you."

"You're convinced she's involved?" Tucker asked.

"Not convinced, just suspicious."

Danny didn't say anything at first, but with Sam staring up at him expectantly like she was, he couldn't help but agree, "Fine, but I'm not going to push. You saw her on Tuesday. I don't want to make her upset again."

Sam agreed. It was obvious to all three of them that Anna had been through something terrible and making her relive those memories was not worth the information.

Danny met up with Anna at a coffee shop near the city government building the next afternoon, as they had agreed on Tuesday. Anna was late, explaining that she had a couple things had needed to drop off at the office first, but that she was done now. Her smile was a little forced and her face was pale.

"Are you feeling okay?" Danny asked, concerned.

"Oh," Anna put a hand to her cheek. "I'm okay. I was a little sick last night. I must have eaten something that didn't agree with me."

Danny blinked, "You were sick? As in… laid up in bed sick?"

Anna raised an eyebrow as a response, "That is the idea, isn't it? Why? Interested in how many times I threw up?"

Danny blanched but Anna just laughed at him, a little color returning to her cheeks. Danny couldn't help the small smile that turned up the corners of his mouth, even when his mind was pointing out the obvious parallel between the ghost being absent and Anna Marie being sick.

"I know you're not one for coffee," Anna said when her laughter subsided. "Let's head over to the Nasty Burger for lunch."

"What about your stomach?"

Anna held up a paper bag, containing what Danny assumed to be an emergency lunch, and a thermos, "I came prepared."

Danny kept the conversation light on the way to the Nasty Burger, asking Anna about work and what working for Vlad was really like.

"He has a temper and he's hard headed, but he's not as bad as you make him out to be," she answered as they came to a stop at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change. "There's a lot going on at the office and it's stressing him out."

"You talk awfully nice about Vlad," Danny was skeptical, that did not sound like Vlad. "He's not rude to you at all? He doesn't overwork you?"

"A little, but it doesn't bother me," Anna smiled at Danny as the crosswalk light turned white and they continued on their way. "He reminds me of someone I knew a long time ago."

Danny looked down at the ring on Anna's hand, gulped, then looked back up and dared to ask: "You're fiancé?"

Anna hesitated, biting her lip as if questioning whether to answer or not and if so, what to say. Finally, she sighed and nodded.

"He died in the fire too?"

"No that was… a different situation."

"You could find someone else then. You're pretty! There'd be plenty of guys that'd…" Danny stopped when Anna stopped walking.

He turned to look at her. He expected her to look sad, maybe for there to even be tears in her eyes, but there wasn't. There was a determined look on her face instead.

"I can't do that, Danny." She said, "This isn't something I can just throw away then go and find someone else. I made a promise and I have to keep it. I have no other choice but to keep it, even if I have to wait forever."

It took Danny a moment to process the statement, "A promise?"

Anna covered her mouth, eyes wide. She sighed, uncovering her mouth and closing her eyes.

"You know…" For a moment Danny thought she was going to get angry, but then she smiled. "It's been a long time since I've been this uncandid with anyone. Here I just met you Monday and already it's like I've known you forever. It's like I've got an annoying little brother prying into my business, but I don't even mind!"

Anna laughed again, but Danny didn't join in this time. There was affection in her voice, but he got the feeling that his prying truly was not welcome. Danny was starting to understand the feeling that Sam had; something really was not right here.

"Anyway," Anna brought Danny out of his thoughts. "We better get going. You're probably starving!"

Danny laughed awkwardly and they continued on their way. He wasn't really sure if he was fit for interrogating anymore.

The rest of the walk to the Nasty Burger was mostly quiet, Danny having no desire to cause Anna to look at him like that again. He had definitely touched a nerve somewhere, but which nerve was becoming increasingly difficult to determine. There were so many layers to Anna Marie. Some topics made her sad, others filled her with an intense determination that Danny had never seen before. He knew girls were confusing, but this was ridiculous.

Danny got his food and met Anna at a table by a window. She was unpacking what she had brought with her; crackers covered with a light spread of thick honey and the lid of the thermos filled with tea.

As they ate, he wracked his brain for more things to talk with her about. He didn't want that to be the last thing they talked about.

"Um…" Anna glanced up over the rim of the cup. "Where have you been living since you've moved here?"

"Oh, I started renting out the old lighthouse on lake Eerie," She answered.

"That old place?" Danny said, surprised. "I didn't know it was being rented."

"It wasn't at the time," Anna shrugged. "Took a little convincing, but the family that used to own the place eventually let me rent it for cheap."

"Why out there? There are places here in town that rent for cheap too."

Anna smiled, "Its quiet out there, reminds me of home."

"Where you used to live was out on a lake?"

Anna nodded, "Not as big as Eerie, but it was nice. We had a gazebo and a garden in the front overlooking the lake and a family cemetery off a path behind the house. Father used to take us kids out in his boat sometimes to catch trout. Though, I wasn't as good at it as my brothers. They used to laugh at me at how I used to catch the hem of my dress more than any actual fish."

Danny let out a relieved sigh as Anna laughed, recalling the memory. "You had a large family then?"

"Mmm…" She put a finger to her chin in thought. "Not really, there were five kids, including me, my mother and father, and my oldest brother's wife and daughter lived with us as well."

"That's almost ten people in one house!" Danny said, surprised. "And you're oldest brother lived with you? How old were all of you?"

"Well, we were all born pretty close together except for my baby brother," Anna explained, "If we go by how old I am, my oldest sibling 28, the next one down 27, the next 26, me 25, and my baby brother 16."

_So her youngest brother would be my age if he was still alive_, Danny thought, taking a bite of his burger. _I wonder what he was like._

"You have any siblings, Danny?" Anna asked.

"Not as many as you," He laughed. "I've got my sister Jaz. She started college this year though, so she's not home."

"You two are close?"

"Kind of, we weren't always. But we got a lot closer recently. I am glad for that." Danny said. "Feels like I have someone I don't have to hide things from."

Anna smiled, "It is okay to have secrets. Everybody has at least one."

"Even you?"

Anna chuckled, "You know for a fact that I do."


	4. Chapter 4

Phantoms of Amity Park

Chapter 4

The next night, Danny described his meeting with Anna to Sam and Tucker.

"She lives at the light house?" Sam asked as they headed to the same roof they had been at the night before. "And the ghost comes from the direction of the light house. That's another coincidence."

"There's also an apartment building in that direction right before the edge of town," Danny said. "The ghost could come from there too."

Sam gave Danny a dubious look, "You're awful quick to defend her."

"And you're quick to condemn her! We still don't know if she's involved or not," Danny argued. "Yes, it's weird. She moves to town and a lot of weird things start happening. All the usual ghosts disappear, this new ghost start showing up and roaming around every night."

"What's up with you, Danny?" Tucker asked.

"I'm just saying if Anna is involved, there's more to it than just… her showing up and making all the other ghosts just disappear. Her fiancé, her family, and the fire, the ghost; all of that has to be involved somehow, but none of it really fits together."

"Maybe it does," Tucker said. "We just don't have all the details."

"If she shows up tonight we will," Sam said with a determined tone.

It did not take long for them to set up their equipment and the wait began again. They didn't have to wait long, only the one that showed up wasn't the one they were waiting for.

Danny had been distracted, talking with Sam and Tucker, when he was hit. A bright ball of pink energy zoomed out from Danny's left, hitting him in the side and careened him towards a brick wall. Danny was barely able to phase through in time.

"Danny!" Sam and Tucker said in unison, racing towards the edge of the roof to see Danny phase back through, annoyed.

Danny looked up to where the shot came from to see Plasmius, Vlad's ghost form.

"I come out to do some investigating and look who I find," Plasmius said smugly. "So Daniel, I'm only going to ask this once, where is your new friend?"

"Friend?" Danny blinked then realized who he was referring to. "I don't know who she is or where she is. I'm not going to let you get to her."

"Are you now?" Plasmius raised an eyebrow. "I take it you have an idea then. Are you going to tell me willingly or will I have to force the information out of you?"

Danny's hands closed into fists, glowing a bright green, "Stupid question."

Danny flew at Plasmius, his speed impressive, but not as impressive as the speed the other ghost showed as he dodged Danny punch, disappearing only to reappear behind the boy.

"Are you trying to protect someone? Someone you suspect to be this new ghost?"

Danny spun around, charging energy in the palm of his hand and firing it at Plasmius' center mass. The larger ghost was too close to block the blast. Plasmius was thrown back, only to disappear again. A hard kick in the back told Danny where he had teleported to again. Plasmius appeared in front of him as he careened forward, arms crossed, smug look on his face. Danny growled and swung… the Plasmius in front of him dissolved.

"I… forgot he could do that…"

Just as Danny landed on the roof he was racing towards, a bubble of pink energy exploded up from under him and surrounded him.

"I'm such a…"

"Well," Plasmius said, smirking. "Look what I've caught in my trap. Care to talk now?"

"Bite me!"

The smirk turned into a scowl, "If that's how you want this to go then."

Plasmius held out his hand and another ball of pink ectoplasmic energy formed over it, "Perhaps this will change your mind."

Sam and Tucker had left the rooftop as soon as the fight had started and had been trying to get to Danny. However, they watched helplessly from the fire escape of the building Danny was on as Plasmius threw the ball of energy. It was traveling faster than they could run; they would never make it in time.

Then a streak of brass color passed over their heads.

Just before Plasmius' energy contacted, a barrier of brass colored energy lifted in front of where Danny was trapped, stopping the energy dead. Danny sat stunned, watching the energy ball disappear slowly and the ghost woman who was also standing in front of him, hand outstretched toward the barrier she had put up.

The woman turned toward Danny, keeping her arm outstretched and slicing her hand across the bubble holding him captive. The bubble burst with a "pop" and she put her arm down to her side.

"Are you hurt?" She asked as Danny lifted himself to his feet.

_That voice!_ Danny looked up at her. _That face…_

She tilted her head to the side slightly, eyes worried.

"Uh! No, I'm fine."

She breathed a relieved sigh and smiled a very familiar smile, "Good, I'm glad."

"Danny!" The yells came from the fire escape and Sam and Tucker raced towards them.

"This is all very touching," Plasmius interrupted. "But I believe there is a matter we were discussing."

The woman turned and looked up at him, face hardening. "I believe that discussing is the wrong term. What I was witnessing was a bit more… violent."

His brows shot up, "Have we met? You seem familiar."

"Perhaps," The woman answered. "Bu I work alone. Have done for a very long time."

"Very? Care to elaborate?"

The woman clapped her hands together; as she drew them apart a long pole appeared from between them with a thin, strong blade on one end. She grasped it in one hand and stood it on the ground beside her; it was about as tall as she was.

"I'll elaborate, if you can make me."

"Alright, one more thing."

"Just one."

"Are you responsible for my servants refusing to come back to this plane?"

"Their only doing as I instructed."

Everyone in the area of the roof looked surprised. If every ghost left the city because she instructed them to, how old and how powerful was she?

The woman grasped her weapon in both her hands, aiming it forwards at Plasmius. To Danny, Plasmius didn't really seem sure of himself anymore. She took a step forward and… she disappeared. Well, she didn't disappear exactly.

A stream of brass colored energy travelled faster than any of them could blink towards Plasmius. The ghost in question reared back just as she swung upwards, missing by millimeters. Just when he thought he was safe, the blunt end of the weapon collided with his stomach, making him bend forward, holding his stomach.

"Using a weapon is quiet dirty, don't you think?" He managed to gasp.

"Danny is still a child, isn't it nice to have someone more on your level to fight?"

"Oh? So you know who he really is?"

"I know who you are as well, Vlad Masters."

"Well, aren't you just," Vlad used his energy to form a sword and swiped at her, "the most interesting young lady."

He missed. She flipped backwards, dodging his attack. Plasmius scowled again, this woman was too good and too familiar for his liking. And she knew who he was, that just did not settle well.

He inspected her again as she readied herself for another attack, there was a sheen of sweat on her forehead and her breathing was ragged. How? He hadn't even managed to hit her yet. Perhaps…

She was coming at him again, each movement was precise, calculated, well trained. How long had she been fighting like this? It was almost like she was dancing, but Plasmius was her unfortunate bumbling partner. But, there was weakness there.

Each movement strained her more; he noticed her breath catching in her throat more and more, the sweat on her brow excreting to the point where he saw drops falling from her delicate nose. Then her movements started to slow until there was at last a stutter in her swing; that was when he took his chance.

The fight had drawn them to the side of the clock tower, where the windows lining the maintenance room were placed. The ghost woman went to swing, but her movements stopped for a brief moment, the color on her already pale cheeks turning a sour green. Plasmius fired a blast at her center, sending her flying through one of the tall windows and into the clock tower. He went in after her.

"Oh no!" The three teenagers still on the roof went after. Sam and Tucker each grabbed one of Danny's hands and Danny flew them all through the broken window.

The ghost woman was lying among a pile of broken boxes at the far wall, barely conscious, but not from her injuries. Her breathing was alarmingly sharp, the sweat now pouring off of her in buckets. Plasmius was standing over her, having dissolved his weapon.

"Now, explain quickly," he ordered. "You're obviously in no condition to fight anymore."

She was looking up at Plasmius with and odd expression on her face. Sadness? Submission? She let out a long breath and closed her eyes. The beautiful, brass colored dress started to fade, revealing a pair of jeans and long sleeved blouse. Her hair changed from the sea-like blue-green color to a dark orange. Her body slumped against the broken boxes and rubble. Anna Marie VanRatten was laying there.

"Anna!" Danny called out, changing back into his normal form and running to her side, Sam and Tucker followed.

"What?" Vlad changed back as well, a stunned and confused look on his face. "What's the meaning of this?! Did you know about this?!"

"Vlad, would you just shut up for once?!" Danny turned on the man as Sam put a hand to Anna's damp forehead.

"Danny!" Sam said, panicked, drawing her hand away. "She's burning up! Was she this bad when you saw her earlier?"

Danny turned his attention back to Anna, "No, she looked fine. A little pale, but she didn't look like this!"

Anna stirred and her eyes opened slightly.

"Anna? Are you alright?"

She didn't seem to hear him. Her eyes were fogged from the heat in her face and the sweat dripping into her eyes. She looked up at Vlad, a tired, happy smile spreading across her face, making him take a step back in alarm. She reached out her left hand to him, her entire arm shaking heavily with the effort.

"Victor, look," She said weakly. "I kept my promise. I waited for you… all this time… I waited…"

Anna passed out, her breathing even more ragged then it had been. Everyone exchanged looks back and forth.

Victor? Who was Victor and why did she confuse Vlad for him?


	5. Chapter 5

Phantoms of Amity Park

Chapter 5

Screaming… she could hear screaming. It was close by; underneath her. Who was screaming? She needed to get to them, needed to help them. But she couldn't move. Her limbs were like lead.

Cold water dripped down the sides of Anna's forehead as a wet cloth was set on her face. Her eyes burned, but the water helped to relieve the heat and roused her from her sleep. The bed she was in was overly soft, she sank into in like a rock, but it was comfortable. She almost didn't want to wake up.

She opened her eyes slowly and was met by three young smiling faces; Danny and his friends.

"Anna!" Danny exclaimed, making Anna cringe, head pounding. "Sorry. How are you feeling?"

"Like hell," her voice was still weak.

"You have yourself to blame for that," came a voice from the end of the bed. "What did you think would happen? Going out as sick as you are."

Anna looked down to see Vlad leaning against one of the bed posts.

"Mr. Masters? Where am I? What happened?" Anna asked.

Vlad gave her an annoyed look, "Don't play with me. You know full well what happened."

Anna averted her eyes. It was true, she did; everything except after she had crashed through the clock tower window.

"Would you back off?" Danny turned to Vlad, careful not to let his voice rise too high. "If you hadn't knocked her through a window…"

Vlad looked offended, "If I had known it was my secretary, I wouldn't have fought her in the first place!"

She looked back up at them all, "So I guess the secret's out then."

Vlad crossed his arms, "That's quite obvious. You have a lot of explaining to do."

"Don't worry, I plan to tell you guys everything," Anna closed her eyes. "You see…"

"Including who Victor is," Vlad interrupted.

Anna's eyes shot open and she tried to sit up, the cloth on her forehead falling onto the bed. She almost fell sideways, but Danny caught her, keeping her upright.

"How do you know that name?" She asked.

"It's what you called me in the clock tower before you passed out," Vlad explained. "You said that you kept your promise."

Anna bit her lip, "That was… Victor is…"

"You don't remember saying that?" Sam asked.

Anna shook her head, keeping her eyes down at the bed sheets.

"Guess more got out then you wanted to," Vlad said.

When Anna was silent for many long moments, Danny put a hand on her shoulder.

Anna took a deep breath and sat up on her own, despite how she was feeling, "Fine, I'll tell you everything. But I'll have to start from the very beginning."

"That was the idea, wasn't it?" Vlad raised an eyebrow.

"Let's see," Anna closed her eyes. "It was 1778…"

"How's that the beginning?" Tucker exclaimed.

Anna smirked, "1778 was the year I turned 25, the year my family's home burned, and… the year I died."

ooooo

To be completely truthful, my story starts before me. My family, the VanRatten's, settled in Georgia long before even my grandfather was born. We were what was called "old money" to the country folk. Not long after the family settled, we got rich. The details as to how were lost, but after our first hundreds, it seemed that luck had always been on our side. Every enterprise, every investment cashed us hundreds of dollars. Back then, that was impressive.

Father was the next patriarch of the family to continue this trend. He mainly focused on continuing the cotton plantations that his father and grandfather had set in place; using the three houses of slaves that we had on the property to farm and spin the cotton into spindles.

As I had told Danny before, I was one of five children. My oldest siblings were 28, 27, and 26 respectively and my younger sibling was 16. Andrew opted to move his wife into our family home; they had a three year old daughter. My only sister, Marie had married only a year previously and lived in a big city far up north with her husband. My second brother William had yet to marry and was more interested in learning the family business and enterprises then finding a wife. And my youngest brother, Devon, he had yet to find a path for himself. He used to say that he want to travel; foreign lands, under the oceans, even up in the skies! I fueled his imagination. I didn't want to be suck as a house wife or whatever I was destined to be.

Mother had been bedridden with illness for many years and was very rarely able to leave her bedroom upstairs. Father had called in many of the ages best doctors to treat Mother; However, just when the treatments seemed to be taking affect, Mother would be taken by a new symptom and once again become bedridden.

Then there was Victor Wahlberg. His family was old money as well and had been close friends with my family for a long time; thus, we had grown up together. It seemed eventual that we would fall in love, like it was always meant to be. Victor was five years older than me and ambitious. I remember the in the winter of 1776, Victor was at the mansion visiting, and after supper we had retired to the library. I was sitting on the rug in front of the fire with Devon, playing chess, while Victor and Father were in the two armchairs next to us, drinking their after supper coffee.

Victor was purposing a plan he had that could fine tune our family's cotton farming. He had recently acquired a model of the recently invented steam engine and was experimenting to see how many uses he could find for it. One machine he wanted to invent was an automated cotton pulling machine; faster and more efficient then the work of slave hands. Of course, Father was interested, he was a business man and the prospect of quicker work and a more refined product peaked his interest. He encouraged Victor to do his research and experiments for the new cotton pulling machine. He was still working on his machine two years later, but was getting closer to a completed product.

In the spring of 1778, our mansion was alive with activity, being the month of my birth. My sister had come from the north with her husband, which was rare. The day of the party, Father had the servants running around the house in a panic, cooking food, cleaning the downstairs rooms, tending the gardens. I couldn't take the activity; I had gone outside to the gazebo to escape it. I would have taken my niece with me for company, but my sister-in-law had laid her down for a nap in the nursery just not long ago.

"There you are," I turned to see Victor entering the gazebo. "I was wondering where my lovely lady had wondered off to."

"Victor," I smiled. "When did you arrive?"

"Just now," He returned my smiled. "I went inside to find you, but Devon told me he saw you come out here."

"Ah," I sighed. "I cannot help but feel awkward. I am supposed to be the center of attention today, but I would rather be out here where it is quite."

"There is no need," Victor took my hand. "Anna, there is something I would like to ask you."

I turned to him and the look in his eyes made my heart jump into my throat. I had had the feeling that this moment was coming for a while, but knew that Victor would wait until the right time.

"Yes?" I could barely ask.

"Would you…?"

There was a scream from the direction of the house, which made us both turn in alarm. If the anticipation of the question had made my heart jump into my throat, what I saw made it plunge down into the pit of my stomach.

Flames! Tall and burning bright red, yellow, and orange were rising up from the mansion.

But how? The mansion was fine just moments ago! Was I imagining it? But more screams confirmed my fears, the voices of my brothers and sister and father crying out for help. My feet moved on their own, running from the gazebo and towards the mansion. Victor tried to grab my hand, but my hand had slipped out of his grip and I ran through the doorway.

The fire had spread faster than I had ever known possible. The doorway into the library had collapsed and I could hear my Father and siblings inside, struggling to escape. There was a crash than a crowd of screams than nothing; the floor above must have collapsed. I tried not to think about it. I pushed my way through the catching wood, the flames singeing the ends of my hair and the edges of my dress. The nursery was at the end of this hallway, I had to be sure my niece got out alive!

She was still there, sitting up in her crib. Her wails drowned out by the crackling and burning of the room around her. I ran to her and picked her up moments before the ceiling above her crib collapsed. I ran towards the exit, cradling her in my arms.

I could see the door; Victor was there in the doorway, relief on his face as I came back into view. I made my way to him, but stopped suddenly. I couldn't move anymore, it felt like my dress had gotten caught, but I turned and saw nothing. My feet would not move.

"Auntie?"

I looked down at the little face. So young, I wasn't going to let her die there. I set her down and pushed her towards the door.

"Run!"

She ran, Victor's arms outstretched to drag her out of the mansion. I saw a dark arm shoot out from behind me, reaching for my niece, reaching to drag her back to die in the fire.

"NO!" I grabbed the arm, stopping its progress. "You cannot have her!"

It shoved me back, slamming me against the main stairs. I saw my niece jump into Victor's arms, making him fall backwards and out of the way as the front doorway collapsed. I was trapped now, but I smiled and lay back against the stairs.

That was the last thing I remembered. When I awoke, I was still in my birthday dress, floating in a strange room filled with clocks, but not one read the same time as another one. Clockwork appeared to me and made me an offer. He had given me two options, he could both return time to me and send me back to the Human Realm to fight to protect what remained of my family or I could die and continue on to the other world.

I, of course, chose the former. He trained me for a while before he sent me back. The amount of time I was in the Ghost Realm, I could not exactly guess. However, when I did return, about 30 years had passed and I had not aged a single day since my death. But I had not realized that until I had gone to see Victor.

What he had become had shocked me; a reclusive, bitter old man on his death bed, who no longer held no love or kindness in his heart. What had happened? Where was my Victor? But he was there.

I appeared to him in my human form and saw the tears well up in his eyes. He reached out to me with a shaky wrinkled hand and I took it, kneeling next to the bed. His lips moved, as if trying to speak, but no words came out. His other hand then lifted slowly, pointing towards a small wooden box on the table next to the bed. I took it and opened; inside was the ring I now wear and a note. I opened the note and read what was written… wedding vows. Down at the bottom was a line, written not in Victor's fancy script that I remember, but in a clumsy hand that belonged to the man I now saw:

_Wait for me. Forever and Always. Reborn._

Tears flowed down my cheeks. I slipped the ring out of the box and fit it onto my finger.

"Of course I will wait," I said softly. "As long as it takes, I promise I will wait for you to return to me."

He smiled a smile I remember. I watched as life left him, his hand becoming limp within my fingers.


	6. Chapter 6

Phantoms of Amity Park

Chapter 6

"I spent to next 200 years or more doing as clockwork told me to do," Anna said, drawing her story to a close. "He would send me to a location of a major event or where the threat to the time-line occurred with the instructions to preserve the time-line at all costs."

"And your niece?" Sam asked. "She survived?"

Anna nodded, "Victor must have seen what I had, the dark arm reaching out to drag her back, and did everything he could to make sure she was safe from whatever killed us. She wasn't safe with him, so he had changed her name and had her adopted by a family that he trusted. After that, the depression struck him, he had nothing left to live for and his invention went unfinished. You know the rest."

There was a weight in the room as silence fell. Everyone had pulled chairs up closer to the bed during the course of the story, even Vlad, who sat on the same side as Danny. Then something hit Danny.

"Wait, Clockwork brought you back to life?" He asked, Anna nodding in answer. "But that's impossible. He doesn't have that power… does he? I know he can rewind time but…"

"It was one he used to have. From how he described it to me, it was a temporary power, one he only had one use of. Otherwise he could just bring back everyone who died unjustly or unplanned."

"Does make sense," Vlad said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "A power like that would mess with how the Ghost Realm works and the terminology he used: _return time_ not _bring back to life_."

"That's right," Anna smiled. "What clockwork did was more… returning my soul and body to the time right before I died. It brought me back to life as a result, but I am still technically dead. My body can't age and can't reproduce, but on the flip side I still get sick and can die again, if I'm not cautious."

"So you're not immortal," Vlad stated.

Anna shook her head, "This isn't immortality, not in the way you think of it. Yes, I don't age, but any fatal physical injury or illness will kill me… again."

"So you let yourself get sick than go out in the middle of the night and fight?" Vlad said. "I have a feeling that is not how Clockwork wanted you to treat this body."

Anna glared at Vlad, "You lecture me? Who was the one beating up on a child?"

Vlad had opened his mouth to snap back, but found that the words died in his throat at the look on her face. Yes, there was anger, but there was also… disappointment?

Sam changed the subject quickly, "What are you doing in Amity Park then? We've have had a lot of ghost activity in the past couple years. Is it about that?"

"No," Anna answered. "Clockwork told me to come here about two months ago. He had said that something terrible was coming here and I needed to be here to fight it. Didn't tell me what it was, just said to _go to Amity Park in order to protect what remains of the VanRatten bloodline_."

"What remains?" Danny asked. "So, decedents from your family live here in Amity Park? Oh! That thing that tried to kill your niece must be coming after the rest of your family! We have to find them and protect them."

Anna giggled. Everyone looked at her confused.

"I already know where they are, I've been watching them since I got here."

"You do?" Sam asked. "Who are they? Do we know them?"

Anna nodded, smiling, "The family name has gone through many changed since 1778. Right now, the family name is Fenton."

All eyes turned to Danny, whose mouth was hanging open with shock.

"Wait! Fen… but that means you're…"

Anna laughed, "You're Great Aunt, yes."

Vlad looked down at his hands, which he had clasped in his hands, _then the resemblance I had seen between her and Maddie wasn't a coincidence then_.

"So something with a grudge against your family is going to come back and try and kill the Fenton's!" Sam exclaimed.

"That's what Clockwork said," Anna said. "Of course, that's all he's told me. He's always been vague. Nothing about who or when, just as it's always been; go here at this specific time and do this. That's how it's been for over 200 years. But now it's personal. I gave my life to make sure my bloodline survived, and now that could all be for nothing."

Danny stood up, "I have to get home then! Mom and Dad are home alone; I have to be there to make sure nothing happens to them."

"We'll go with you," Tucker said, Sam agreeing with a nod then looked back at Anna. "We'll call you if anything happens."

"Be careful," Anna said. "I'm stuck here, so no fighting on your own."

"Right," Danny agreed and they started out, but was stopped.

"One more thing," Anna said. "Could you do me a favor and bring me something from my place? A box with some books in it?"

"Sure," Danny answered. "I'll come back with it soon."

Anna smiled as he and his friends left then realized she was now all alone with Vlad Masters. She risked a glance up at him and found him watching her expectantly. Anna closed her eyes and sighed, leaning back against the pillows the kids had propped up for her.

"Their awfully trusting," he finally said.

Anna kept her eyes closed, "I don't have any reason to lie, especially since I'm here, in your mansion."

"So that's the whole story then?"

"I didn't leave any details out, if that's what you're asking. Unless you want to know about my entire childhood," Anna chuckled, beginning to drift off to sleep again.

"What about Victor? You still have not explained why you called me Victor in the clock tower before."

Anna opened her eyes slowly, lids heavy and turned her gaze back to Vlad. He saw her expression soften as she looked at him, taking him aback.

She sighed, "The rules of the Ghost Realm are strange, aren't they? With the proper situations met, a spirit can do anything, even be reincarnated."

"What do you mean?" Vlad raised an eye brow.

"Reincarnation is simple, when you think about it. There is one major rule: you have to be reborn as a blood relative. But the soul also has to have the drive and a reason to be brought back, can't just be brought back because it feels like it."

"You're talking about the note Victor left in the ring box? What does that have to…?"

"You look the exact same as you did when you were Victor; the face, the eyes, the body, the hair is a different color but you put it up the exact same way."

It took a moment for the reality of what she had said to hit him…he was Victor? A reincarnation?

Vlad's laugh was dark and came from deep in his chest, "Impossible. You just said reincarnations had to be blood relatives. Victor never married after you died, he had no children. You must be going senile after 200 years."

"I never said Victor was an only child," Anna giggled. "He had a younger brother who did marry and had multiple children."

"So you think I'm…" Vlad jumped from his chair at what was insinuated by her statement. "No! I'm Vlad Master's! I own multiple high stock companies, billions of dollars in multiple banks across the country, I'm in love with Maddie Fenton!"

The last statement made him stop as a hurt expression spread over her beautiful face. Wait… beautiful? No! He was comparing her with Maddie again, that's all it was. But the fact that he had done it frustrated him.

"I. Am. Not. Victor!" His voice was louder and harsher than he had meant it to be.

Anna didn't say anything, just kept looking at him with that same hurt expression. That expression, on that face so similar to Maddie's, especially now that he knew why, made his chest fill with guilt.

He said nothing more, couldn't say anything more, and left the room as quickly as possible, leaving Anna all alone.

ooooo

Danny returned early the next afternoon with Anna's box, having left Sam and Tucker at his house to watch his parents. She was feeling a little better, Vlad having returned to her later the previous night and early the next morning with food and medicine. However, he had said nothing, still fuming over the implications that he was not who he had made himself to be and promptly left after he was sure she had taken the medicine. After Danny's confused look after telling him this, she explained about the conversation they had had after Danny and his friends had left.

Danny's brows shot up, "You think Vlad is Victor's reincarnation? I really hate to say this Anna, but Vlad is right. He's not Victor, he is sooo not Victor."

"He's not now, but he was," Anna rubbed her forehead in frustration. "It's difficult to explain. I'm different from you and him, I have more of a connection to the Ghost Realm and spirits then either of you do. I sense them differently. You two were made by human technology, I was made by ghost power. When Vlad is around me, I sense Victor's soul inside him, a soul that has been changed over time, but is still Victor at the very core."

Danny didn't look convinced, "Anna, you would think differently if you knew the kind of things he has done."

Anna just smiled, "I don't want to sound like an arrogant adult. Perhaps you are right, but just understand, after how long I've waited, being around him makes me feel a little at peace."

It was against Danny's conscious, but he didn't tell her about the things that Vlad has done. Being around Vlad made her happy and he didn't want to make her sad again, not after she revealed her entire past to him and after she'd waited 200 years to just be able to see him again.

"Alright, but I don't want to have to tell you that I told you so." Danny looked down at the box that he had brought. "What's in the box anyway? I was surprised when I went to your place and found it nearly completely empty."

"Didn't look in the box I take it?" Anna joked and Danny shook his head. "Everything that was mine burned up in the fire."

Danny helped her move the box onto the bed and she removed the lid. Inside were a dozen or more old handwritten journals and a portrait from Anna's original time period. Anna reached inside the box and carefully removed the portrait. She blew gently on the face of the portrait, carefully removing the dust.

She smiled lovingly at the picture before handing it to Danny, "This should be enough proof for you. This is Victor Wahlberg, painted the fall before I died."

Danny looked at the picture and almost dropped it in shock. That was Vlad in the painting! Or, it looked like Vlad. The smile on the man's face was not one Vlad ever wore and the man's hair was black and not white. Other than those, every feature was the same.

Danny looked back up at Anna with wide eyes, "Are you going to show this to Vlad? I doubt he could deny what you've told him with this as evidence."

Anna sighed as Danny handed the picture back to her; she ran her fingers gently over the surface. "I doubt he would let me show it to him. But, if he ever decides to listen, then yes."

Danny looked back in the box, "And the books?"

"His personal diaries and research journals. I couldn't bear to leave them there after he died. I knew that he would want them held onto, by me most of all."

"You've read his diaries?"

Anna laughed, "You would think that. I took all the ones I could find in his apartment and kept them safe and well cared for, for over 200 years. I must have peeked into one of them at least once to see my best friend and fiancé's most secret thoughts."

"You haven't!" Danny was surprised.

Anna shook her head, "What's in these books aren't for my eyes. I would be betraying his trust by reading what's in these."

"So you plan to give these to Vlad too."

Anna sighed, laying the picture in her lap, "Same situation, I suppose. Reading these would most likely bring up a lot of similarities between him and Victor that he doesn't want to see. If I push him too far too quickly with all of this, well, I'm not really in a condition to fight back. I wouldn't last very long in my current state."

"Yet he's helping you! He brought you food, medicine, and is even letting you stay here while you get better!"

"Probably because I resemble your mother; didn't you notice?"

Danny bit his lip, averting his eyes, "I didn't really, till I saw her this morning."

Anna smiled at the boy, placing the picture back inside the box and closing the lid, "You should probably get back. I know you didn't want to stay away for this long."

"Oh, yeah," Danny stood, but didn't leave. "Um, Sam, Tucker, and I had talked more about everything you had told us. We came up with an idea I wanted to run by you."

"What's that?"

"Well, since whatever is coming here is going to try and wipe out me and my family, maybe there would be some clues back at your old mansion."

Anna's brows drew together, "You mean go back there? Danny, I don't know. I haven't been there since…"

"I know, but it's the best lead we have; unless you have another idea? If we know what it is, we'll be able to fight it."

"Who said I was going to let you fight?"

Danny was understandably miffed, "You're not alone anymore! You haven't been since you told me that you were my Great Aunt, no before that, since you became my friend. I'm not going to let you do this alone!"

"Danny," Anna sighed as if defeated, but was fighting back happy tears. "Fine, I was never planning to go back there, but even I have to admit that it's the best lead that we have."

"Right!" Danny smiled. "Once you're better, we'll head there and see what we can find. It should only take us a couple days, so Sam and Tucker agreed to stay behind and watch over Mom and Dad."

"Okay, once I'm better."

Once Danny left, Anna had laid back, intending to rest as much as possible so she would get well quicker. But she couldn't. She heard the screams again. The first time, she was sure they were caused by her fever induced stupor, but now she was awake and her fever down to the high 90s. These were not imagined screams; they were spirits crying out for help, crying out for her.

She slipped out of bed and made her way out of the bedroom, following the voices down to the private library.

ooooo

Vlad entered the room where Anna was staying to find it empty. Annoyed, he set the tray he had brought her on the bedside table. He checked the bathroom for her and, finding it empty, let out an annoyed sigh.

"Great, now she's wandering around my house. She's going to push herself again and make herself worse."

He kept telling himself that he was only concerned about the woman because she resembled and was related to Maddie. It was the excuse he had come up with to explain his actions and the strange warmth he felt in his chest when he was around her. He had never felt such a thing for anyone other than Maddie, so it was the only reason that made sense, besides the one she had given him.

Vlad grimaced at the thought as he searched. It was ridiculous; reincarnation was the kind of thing that belonged in fairy tales. Even if it wasn't, he surely wasn't one. He was no one but himself.

His searches eventually lead him to his private library, where he found the secret passage to his laboratory open. His annoyance with the woman reached a new peak, first she claims him to be the reincarnation of her… fiancé and now she was snooping around his lab. This was the last straw, emotional quandaries can wait for another time, this woman needed to learn the rules if she was going to stay here. Whether she was five times older than him or not, this was his house and she needed to abide by his rules.

Vlad entered his laboratory. Everything was as he had left it; notes, beakers, and various tools lined the work tables along the walls, the experiments he was currently working on laid out on the table in the center of the room, and his portal to the Ghost Realm stood closed against the fall wall. Nothing had been touched and there was nowhere for anyone to really hide. He was about to leave when he noticed a door that lead to one of his side labs was open a crack; the door that lead into his abandoned cloning lab.

He hesitated. Vlad had sealed that door, remembered vividly welding the door shut with ectoplasm in a rage. Certainly Anna would have the ability to open the door up with little trouble or strain to herself, but why would she go in there of all places? Vlad went to the door and opened it the rest of the way, cringing as the underused hinges creaked loudly.

The room was as he had left it as well; broken glass and chemical residues still covered the floor, making it dangerous terrain to walk through. There were empty pods all over the room, some obviously having been thrown against the walls from the fight that had taken place here, very few still stood against the walls still connected to wires and tubing. There was something unpleasant in one particular pod. Vlad looked away from it, forcing himself to concentrate on something else, anything else.

He spotted Anna, standing at a work table on the other side of the room, hunched over something on the work space.

Vlad took a few steps toward her, passing broken chairs, tables, and pods as he went, "You know, I had this room sealed for a reason."

Anna said nothing, so he continued, sounding annoyed, "Yes, you are technically my senior and I am allowing you to stay here until you are well, but I do not appreciate my business being pried into. This room is…"

He was cut off when Anna turned on him, catching him off guard with the pure look of outrage in her eyes. Just this morning she was looking at him tenderly, saying softly that the information was a lot to take in all at once. That she just wanted him to understand. But that was not the woman that was looking at him now, this was more like the person he had been losing against for a short time the night before.

She barreled toward him, not even showing any signs of pain as she stepped on shards of glass with her bare feet. Vlad tried to yell out to her to stop, that she would seriously injure herself, but she was still coming at him, causing him to back up into a work table that had been turned up on its side. He braced his hands on the edge of the overturned table in surprise. He was trapped.

She was right in his face now, barely six inches of space between them. Vlad had never been this close to her, and at this distance, he could see every contour and curve of her beautiful face. The resemblance to Maddie was purely from a distance, he noted. This close, her beauty was all her own, very familiar, and it was making his heart do flips in his chest. But he didn't have time to dwell on it farther.

Anna had stuck a photograph in his face, one that he recognized but had forgotten about. It was Danielle, not a couple days after she survived the cloning process. He had wanted to document his success by taking this photograph, leading the poor girl on to believe that it was their first family photo.

"Where is she?"

"I…"

"Don't give me any damned excuses!" Anna demanded. "This little girl, that you made here, where is she? What did you do with her?"

"Nothing! I…" Vlad started to answer forcefully, but the tone died in his throat when he truly processed the questions, averting he eyes. "I don't know where she is. I doubt she is even still alive. Her biological structure was breaking down when she disappeared."

There was silence between them for many long, agonizing, minutes. Then Anna's open palm fell hard against the side of Vlad's face, jarring his head to the side. Vlad stood stunned for many moments before turning his eyes back to Anna, cheek still stinging. Her eyes were brimming with unshed tears and his heart sank into his stomach.

"You stupid fool. You self-righteous idiot."

"Anna…"

"Shut up!"

He did.

"You prattle on about how you want family and how you're going to steal Maddie away so you can have what you want. You alienate everyone around you; push everyone away that is not useful to you. When really, you had what you wanted right in front of you. You had made it with your own two hands!"

She stuck the photo in his face again, "You had a daughter who thought the world of you and you tossed her away like trash!"

Vlad looked away again, not moving to relieve the pain in his face. It was what he deserved.

"What? No comeback?" Anna asked, annoyed, taking the photo away from his face. "No orders to get out, to shut up? You don't want to tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about?"

He said nothing. But jerked his head up when he saw, out the corner of his eye, a tear fall down Anna's cheek. That was the end of her resolve and the floodgates opened, tears falling freely.

"Idiot!" She yelled as she cried.

Vlad grabbed her shoulders, "Wait, don't…"

"If I hadn't taken so long to get here, things would be better. If I had been here sooner, I would've been able to save her and you wouldn't have had to have been lonely." Her voice was weak from the yelling, her eyes drooping slightly.

"You blame yourself? You caused none of this."

Anna leaned forward, head resting against his chest. Vlad didn't push her away, but held her arms in case she collapsed.

"But I could have ended it before it got out of hand. I waited for so long for you to be brought back and now I've failed you because I was so busy following orders."

Vlad hesitated as she slumped against him, causing him to put an arm around her torso to keep her upright.

"Waiting for me? Or Victor?"

Anna didn't answer; she had dozed off against his chest.

Vlad sighed heavily, "How much trouble are you going to cause me?"


	7. Chapter 7

Phantoms of Amity Park

Chapter 7

Vlad had picked her up, intending to take her back up to her room, but a faint dripping sound stopped him. Looking down, he saw the blood dripping from shallow cuts on her feet.

_Reckless_, he thought, but the annoyance in it was halfhearted as he took her into the main part of his lab.

He laid her on an empty exam table and bandaged her feet, wrapping them in gauze and medical tape and giving her a shot for the pain he knew she would have when she next woke up. When he was done, he picked her up again, one arm under her knees and the other arm supporting her back. Her head lolled against his shoulder, making his heart flip again as she unconsciously nuzzled her face into his neck.

He was careful on the way back up to the room, not even bothering to close the entrance to his lab, lest the noise wake her.

As he entered the room, Vlad let out an annoyed sigh at the sight of a box taking up half the space on the bed. He laid her down on the empty half for a moment to move it, setting it next to the chair that Daniel must have sat in earlier that afternoon. Once moved, he tucked her in, pulling the sheets up to her shoulders then sat down.

"You are going to be a lot of trouble."

His eyes went down at the box next to his chair. That wasn't there when he had brought her breakfast that morning, so he concluded that Daniel must have brought it to her. Vlad glanced up at Anna, insuring that she was still asleep before putting one arm down and flipping the lid off the top of the box.

His eyebrow rose at the contents, a bunch of old leather bound books and the frame of a picture.

_What is this?_ Vlad thought, reaching in and pulling out the picture, turning it over to look at it.

He stopped his eye widening. He looked between Anna, who still slept peacefully on the bed and the picture in his hands. This must be Victor; it had to be because it looked just like him! He looked back down at the box, reaching down and picking up one of the books. This one was not as worn as the others and tied shut with a worn piece of cotton string, frayed and discolored over time.

Vlad set the picture down on the mattress next to Anna's legs before carefully untying the string. The binding on the book creaked unnervingly as he opened it. Halfway through reading the first page, he stopped, realizing it was Victor's diary. The words were so familiar, as if could recall writing them himself back in some faraway dream.

He reread the first entry with more interest.

January 4th, 1776

At last! I've finally have the attention of Anna Marie's father. I had asked him for her hand in marriage eight years ago and he denied me. Not anymore! After I finish my invention, he will see me as worthy enough for his daughter. I will have Anna Marie! I love her. We are meant to be together.

The two years' worth of entries documented his progress with his invention; experiments using the steam engine in conjunction with raw cotton material and pulling devices. Finally the entries reached the spring of 1778. The entry that caught his eye was frantic, as if written in a hurry.

April 15th, 1778

Today is finally the day I have waited for, for ten years. Anna Marie's father has seen my design plans and has given me permission to purpose to her. I feel as if my heart is in my throat. I must have spent hours at the jeweler choosing the proper ring. I clutch the box in my other hand as I write. My fear is unwarranted. There is no way she would say no.

It was months before the next entry was written and even then an exact date wasn't written, as if Victor had not bothered to keep track of the time. The penmanship of this entry was not like the others, unrefined, as if there was no longer any care given.

June 1778

I still cannot believe she is gone. Anna, my Anna is gone and I did nothing to save her. I should have run in the mansion after her. Following her into death would be better than now having to spend the rest of my life without her.

Vlad almost turned the page when he noticed a line of text written at the bottom of the page, as if as an afterthought.

I will not live without her. We will be together. I will bring her back or I will end my own life.

Vlad stopped, setting the book down in his lap to look up at the still sleeping Anna. Victor was really going to try and bring back the dead to be with her. Not really surprising, he would have done the same thing for Maddie.

His eyes narrowed in confusion, placing a hand over his chest. Usually his heart jumped at every little thought of his old college friend and her face swam through his mind. But none of that happened, why? Vlad recalled the feelings he had down in the lab; his attraction to her beauty, no not just to her beauty, to her. Something inside him was changing and he didn't like it, at least he didn't like the thought of it.

Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he went back to the diary, turning the page. Vlad's brow furrowed when he found that the next entry had been years later, twenty years after the events that sent Victor into his depression. There was no exact date with the entry, only the year that held the hint as to when in had been written.

1798

I have seen the truth, had it shown to me; a vision of the future. Just when I had given up, had the pistol to my head, ready to give up and finally join my love in death, a man came to me, wearing strange robes, holding a staff; Clockwork, he had called himself. He had told me that if I wished to be with her, I needed to live, to die of old age and not commit suicide.

I had called him crazy, had told him that he knew nothing of us, to leave me to my pain. But he did not. He instead pressed his staff and suddenly I was no longer in my apartment. I was in a bedroom; Anna was there on the bed asleep, alive and unchanged. Joy had risen in my heart and I reached out to her, but the man stopped me, telling me that we were merely ghosts in this time period; that this was the future. Then I noticed him in the chair next to her reading a worn leather bound book, he looked just me before I had allowed my despair to overtake me; it hit me then, he was me. This man with the white hair was to be my reincarnated self if I allowed myself to live and die a natural death.

Clockwork returned me to my time with new hope. As lonely and painful as my final years were to be, I would bare them, I had to; to become that man I saw and finally be reunited with my soul mate.

Vlad closed the book and retied the cotton string around it. He carefully placed the book and the picture back in the box, closing the lid over it. He stood, intending to leave, but his feet wouldn't move and his head pounded dully, trying to process the words he had read on that page.

He looked to the other side of the bed. It was empty, no one stood there, but apparently Clockwork had taken Victor to this exact moment in time. Vlad put his hand to his head, pressing hard against the growing pain in his temple. If Clockwork hadn't done that, would he even be here? Would Victor's death at his own hand have changed everything? Would there even be a Vlad now if Victor had killed himself? Would Anna have had a reason to continue to live and fight if there was no reincarnation of Victor for her to live for?

Vlad shook his head, only causing the pain there to sharpen and him to lose his balance slightly. What was he thinking? He was starting to believe this? How could he not? The evidence was undisputable and reading that last page, had set something off in his own head. He had to go lay down, before he collapsed.

Vlad left the room slowly. He clung to the doorframe and looked back at the woman asleep on the bed. The sight of her calmed his head some, but he shut his eyes tight and closed the door quickly.

ooooo

Anna was surprised by Vlad's behavior over the next couple days. She had expected him to be as upset with her as she was with him over the laboratory incident, but he wasn't. Instead, he spoke to her in soft tones, avoiding eye contact with her as much as possible. Anna's distaste for his actions was muffled by her concern. Had her own words cut him deeper then she had originally thought?

She apologized, but he merely shook his head as he changed the bandage on her feet again. Her feet were healing quickly and would be okay to walk on again in the next couple of days. Danny had visited the night before to check on how she was feeling. Anna had kept her feet covered; hiding her injury from him and lied, telling him that she still wasn't feeling well. Danny had said that she would feel differently about Vlad Master's if she knew some of the things that he had done, but she didn't. Danny was too young to understand the draw her soul had to his.

Anna looked up at Vlad as he secured the final bandage around her foot. Danny and she were planning to head to her old mansion in Georgia as soon as she was better to search for clues. Vlad still had no idea. Should she offer him to come along?

Vlad had chanced a glance up at her and noticed her looking at him just in time to see her bite at her bottom lip. He felt his face heat up and looked away.

"Something wrong?" He asked as he packed up the medical supplies, keeping his hands busy.

"Well, Danny and I, we're planning to go to Georgia when I'm fit to travel." She wiggled her bare toes, flinching at the sting of pain that shot up her legs. She sighed, "We're going to find out who, or what, is coming after him and his family. What did my family leave behind in such a rage that it would want to finish what it started? What did we do to it? You know? Maybe then we can fight it."

"What if it's there waiting for you?" Vlad raised a brow. "Not to be incredulous, but what if it's something not even you can handle?"

Anna giggled, "Then you'll just have to come with me to protect me, won't you?"

Vlad sighed, closing the box of medical supplies, "Suppose I will."

His own answer seemed to surprise him and he looked up at Anna in panic, rushing to come up with a reason for his answer, "Uh… ah! You're… so reckless. If I don't go, you're likely to get yourself killed… again."

Anna smiled. Something had changed in him, but she didn't say anything about noticing. Vlad set the lunch that had been prepared for her down in front of her and left the room. She started eating as she watched him leave. Yes, something had definitely changed. Had he reached some decision in his mind about the whole situation and just wasn't sharing? If so, what was it?

As planned, a couple days later Danny, Vlad, and Anna left for Georgia and the ruins of the old Van Ratten homestead.


	8. Chapter 8

Phantoms of Amity Park

Chapter 8

Their flight to Georgia was quiet and uneventful. Anna led them as they flew and she could feel Vlad's eyes on her nearly the whole way. In the days until their departure, her suspicion that something had changed or was eating at him had grown stronger. Now there was always that look on his face when he looked at her, as if there was something he wanted to say or ask, but couldn't find the words or was too afraid of what she would say.

Her suspicions were accurate, Vlad was watching her, he had been watching her, thinking about her for the past couple days. So much had been running through his mind since he had read that diary, he had been able to think of nothing else. So many questions; many he had been able to answer, but many still had no answers.

Did he have an attraction to Anna? Of course! She was a beautiful woman, intelligent, compassionate, faithful not only to whom Victor used to be but who he was now, himself. He had been put off by it at first, angered by the assumptions that had been made about him, but now he really didn't mind so much. Reading Victor's words and finding for himself the similarities he had to the man he once was, not just the physical ones but the emotional ones as well had made him rethink his feelings on the situation, and his feelings for Anna.

Did he love Anna? He didn't know. Over the past couple days the feelings had grown strangely quickly. He had noticed them before all of this had started, when she was just his secretary. Back then he had blamed them on the fact that she resembled Maddie, but now that was out the window completely. But love what such a big word, one he had only ever used when talking about Maddie; but now his attraction to Maddie was dimmed by the one that had grown to Anna. Now, whenever thoughts of Anna entered his mind unwarranted, he would feel his heart swell and warmness coarse throughout his veins. He wanted to constantly be around her, but stay away from her at the same time. This was a dangerous situation. Even though she was technically older than him, he still appeared to be more than 15 years older then her.

What if he gave into his feelings for Anna? Would he be willing to give up his current evil lifestyle to be with her? He had thought hardest about this one. What was the original point of this lifestyle of using his ghost powers for evil and personal gain? -To get Maddie back and have the family that he had wanted. With Anna, he would have love and family and wouldn't have to do another single evil deed, would never have to again. But would he be able to? Could he so easily give up what has become so natural? Would she even accept him after everything he's done? Would the rest of the city even accept them with the age difference?

Anna's attention was drawn down below to the outline of a large lake among the trees. She turned to Danny and Vlad and motioned them to follow, drawing Vlad's attention away from his ongoing internal struggle and back to the business at hand. They landed on the bank of the lake, next to an old structure like looked as if a stiff breeze could tear it down.

Danny looked around, "This is it?"

Anna nodded, but said nothing.

"But… where's the mansion? The gazebo? The gardens?" Danny kept searching the landscape as he asked.

Vlad put a hand on the boy's shoulder, stopping him. Danny drew away with a snarl, still untrusting as always. Vlad said nothing and pointed to the structure that they were standing next to. It was the rotting frame of a gazebo, overtaken by wild roses and vines. Danny stared up at it, mouth wide, but snapped it shut when he noticed the sad look on Anna face as she too looked at it.

She must have realized she was still in her ghostly form and changed back, Danny and Vlad followed. If anyone had been around, they must have looked strange in the landscape; a teenager, a businessman, and a young woman standing in the middle of an overgrown garden.

Anna shifted her shoulders again, the dull throb growing there again as it had been for the past few days. Vlad had noticed the movement and went up to her, mistaking the motion of something else, placing a hand on one of her upper arms to steady her.

She looked up at him and smiled weakly, "I'm okay, just…"

"Do you want to leave?" He asked.

She shook her head, "No, I need to do this."

Danny, feeling a little grossed out by Vlad's obvious display, took in their surroundings again, but carefully this time. It was true what he had said before, there wasn't much here, the only structure really standing was the gazebo. Upon closure inspection, however, he spotted something father up the cracked and deformed cobblestone walkway that barely managed to cut through the overgrowth.

"Is that it?" He said, drawing the other's attention and pointing up at what he saw.

Among the brush and overgrowth was looked like the cracked foundation of a building. Upon more careful inspection, the burned and rotting remains of the first story of a large house could be found. The walls barely remained, rising about a foot high and dangerously jagged. The fireplace stood off to one side, discolored and crumbling, the smokestack having fallen over long ago either from the fire or from age. A few steps of the stairs also still stood, the vines growing over them looking strangely like running water.

Vlad and Danny watched as Anna left them and made her way through the brush towards the remains of her family home. They follow, worried. She had not said much and she was giving off an air of melancholy ever since they had arrived. Danny was starting to doubt how good this idea really was.

She stopped in front of the stairs, looking down at them. When she turned around, the two of them were in what would have been the front doorway, but it was like she couldn't see them. Her eyes were misted over, almost like they were the night they had discovered her secret, but it was different; it was as if she was seeing through them at something else. Anna reached out, tears starting to build in her eyes to the point of spilling.

Vlad and ran forward, taking her outstretched hand and drawing her out of whatever trance she was in, drawing her away from her spot in front of the stairs, "Anna."

Danny had rushed forward as well, "Are you okay?! What happened?"

Anna shook the clouds out of her mind, "I'm okay, it's just… thin here."

"Thin?"

She nodded, stretching out a hand and moving it through the air, as if she was moving it through something, "There are spots in our world, like this one, where terrible events occurred. At these spots, the barrier between this world and the ghost realm are very thin, the energy of the people who died there remains for many years and energy from the ghost realm bleeds through. After many more years, natural portals to the ghost realm form in these spots."

"This is one of these spots?" Vlad asked.

"Yes, I may have said this before, but I see and feel the ghost realm differently than you two." She stopped her hand and drew it out of what she was waving it through. "There's a lot of residual energy here, and with my connection to the ghost realm, I can visibly see it. It isn't surprising with everyone who died here. It wasn't just me and my family who died here that day; there were at least a dozen slaves in the mansion as well. The energy is so thick I can literally run my hand through it."

"Will you be okay?" Danny asked.

Anna nodded with a weak smile, "I will, let's just do what we came here to do."

"Right, um," Danny looked around, scratching his head. "There isn't really much here in the way of clues. Did you guys have a cellar or something?"

"We had a wine cellar, under the kitchen. That would have been…" Anna thought for a moment, looking around the shortened walls, trying to remember the layout, then pointed to the back left corner. "Over there! The kitchen was in the back corner over there, the wine cellar was put in right underneath it. I can still see the well over there farther back next to the trees."

"Okay," Danny changed back into his ghost form. "You stay here. I'll go check it out and come get you if I find anything."

Danny fazed through the foundation, leaving Anna alone with Vlad. Vlad must have realized that he was still holding Anna's hand and quickly let it go, moving to scratch his cheek awkwardly.

"Thank you," Anna smiled.

Vlad looked at her, then drew the handkerchief out of his jacket pocket, holding it out to her, "Here, you may want to wipe your face before Daniel gets back."

Anna blinked and felt her cheeks, they were wet. Embarrassed at having cried again, she took the ornate piece of cloth, drying her cheeks. But she paused, lowering the cloth from her face. Vlad looked at her, concerned.

Anna shook her head in response to his look, "What I had seen before you pulled me back. It was like I was reliving my death all over again. I could see my niece running away, the arm reaching for her, you… Victor… in the doorway with that look on his face; realization and horror."

"I'm glad I pulled you back to reality then," Vlad said, looking away, embarrassed.

Anna's face flushed at the sincerity in his voice. She quickly finished wiping her face and handed him back his handkerchief. That look was there again, there was something that he wanted to say, but this time he did start to speak.

"Anna, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Hm?"

Vlad cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably, "Are you… still angry about what happened in the lab? About what you found out about me?"

The question didn't surprise her, she had had the feeling that the subject would come up again sooner or later. Anna looked up at him and saw the hesitation in his eyes and she wondered what was really going on behind those blue eyes.

She sighed and answered, "There is nothing that you can say that can justify what you had done." His head started to hang, but she continued. "I wish I could say that I didn't understand why you did it, why you did anything that you've done. But I do; I've been alone for over 200 years. If anyone understands loneliness and the desire for something you believe that is due to you, it's me."

Vlad looked up at her to find her looking away, the melancholy on her face making his heart ache. He felt himself reach out to her without telling his arm to do so, wanting to hold her, to make the pain they both had felt for so long to go away.

"Even though I know what you've done, I despise everything you've done, I can't help how I feel," she continued. "You're here, the same as you were before; the same spirit, the same personality, the same man standing here before me, just with a different name. You may not believe me, but believe me when I say that I would jump into the fire all over again if only to have the chance to be with you."

"Anna," Vlad said and she looked up at him.

For a moment, it seemed as if he had been in this moment with her before, standing in this spot in a different time having a similar conversation. It felt right, standing here with her, he couldn't deny it… he didn't want to deny it. Vlad's urge to hold her grew stronger and he would have done it if the moment had not been interrupted.

Danny reappeared and changed back to his normal form, "Anna, I couldn't find… should I come back?"

The two adults stepped away from each other, Vlad folding his handkerchief to place it back in his jacket pocket.

"No, um, what was that?" Anna said a little distracted.

"Okay…" Danny didn't seem convinced, but he didn't pry any more. "There's nothing under the house. The wine cellar's caved in and there's no other basement."

Anna sighed, "Maybe there was nothing after all."

There was a long moment of silence, Vlad had put his hand on Anna's shoulder after a minute; a comforting gesture Danny was not used to him displaying. Danny thought hard, there had to be something here. This whole mess started here, didn't it?

Then it occurred to him, "Anna, does your family have a private cemetery?"

The question took her of guard but after a moment, she saw Danny's train of thought. "Yes, it's about quarter of a mile out from here."

"That far?" Vlad asked, surprised.

Anna nodded, looking up at him, "The family founders originally placed it back in the 1500s. Father said that it's always kept very private, that there were secrets kept there."

"What kind of secrets?" Danny asked.

Anna shook her head with another sigh, "I don't actually know. Father forbade me from ever going there. He only ever allowed Andrew and Marie to go with him whenever he visited the cemetery, and that was only after they married."

"That's peculiar," Vlad raised an eyebrow. "You weren't even allowed to visit the graves of your grandparents if you wanted to?"

"No, that's just how it was."

"Sounds like it's worth a look to me," Danny said. "Your dad was hiding something."

It was an idea that didn't sit well with Anna. Such a kind and wonderful father as the one she had had been hiding a something from her, her whole life? But she agreed anyway and they made their way down the overgrown path to the cemetery. Would the answers really be there?

ooooo

The trek to the cemetery was rough, the path, that would have been fit for carriage travel 200 years ago, now barely fit for foot travel. Brambles and prickle veins caught at their pants legs as if purposefully impeding their progress, but they pressed on through the bushes. Parting the final patch of brush, the cemetery was revealed to them.

It was a sad, grey place. Where the ruins of the mansion was overgrown with vines and the wildness that had become the gardens, this place was dead; the grass was stiff and brown, crunching like dried leaves under their feet, the foliage of the forest stopped dead at the edge of the forest, as if afraid to grow any farther. The cemetery was laid out in a circular shape. At the very center was a stone mausoleum with the graves of generations of Van Ratten's laid out around it.

"Looks like your suspicions were accurate Daniel," Vlad said, impressed by the boy's intuition as they headed through the circular rows of gravestones. "This place looks… corrupted."

"Well, if something was going to hide somewhere before taking out a whole family, this seemed like an obvious place," Danny motioned to the mausoleum. "The answers have to be in there."

Anna was already heading to the stone building, walking past the graves of her ancestors, nearly 300 years of Van Ratten's that were buried here before the fire seemingly wiped them out. The two followed her quickened pace, noticing that she was purposefully keeping her eyes forward and trained on their destination. She didn't want to look down to accidently catch sight of her own grave among the rows.

Reaching the mausoleum, it was a generic looking structure, considering the time frame it was from; mid to late 1500s, when the family first settled on this plot of land. Well, it would if there had been a door, but there was not entrance to be found built into the structure.

"How are we supposed to get in?" Vlad asked in annoyance.

"Maybe there's something on the inside?" Danny offered, his clever ideas running out.

"What sense would that make?" Vlad mocked, "Putting a lever on the inside of the building in order to get inside. Before Anna there was no other halfa Daniel."

Danny scowled, "I don't hear you coming up with any better ideas!"

Anna did her best to ignore their arguing. Feeling along the walls for a hidden button, switch, something that would give some sort of clue as to how to get in. Her hand swept over what felt like etchings of letters in the stone. With haste, she brushed away the dirt and grime from the writing, accidently cutting her hand on a loose stone in the process. She drew her hand away quickly with a yelp, drawing the other's attentions away from their current bickering.

"What happened?" Danny rounded the corner, Vlad right behind him, catching sight of the blood dripping from Anna's palm. "Anna! You're hurt! What…?"

Anna dismissed his panic, "It's only a scratch. It's not that bad."

Vlad wasn't convinced, coming over to her and taking her cut hand. He had pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket again and was wrapping it tight around her hand to stop the bleeding.

"This well have to do for now," He said. "We'll properly treat it when we get home."

Anna felt her cheeks start to flush and she turned away to the etching that she had uncovered, "Look at this."

The etching was faded from being open to the elements for so many years, but could still be read with some effort given. It read:

_Only thine own blood can open thy door_

"Great, old English," Danny rubbed his forehead. "Shakespearian poetry was never my best subject."

Vlad rolled his eyes, but was interrupted before he could insult the boy's lack of literary knowledge.

"It's okay, I have a feeling of what it's asking for," Anna stooped down and spread some of her blood that had dripped onto the ground onto her uninjured hand. "But I'm not getting my wound infected more than it may already be for this."

The other two watched as she spread her own blood on the etching. Danny's stomach churned at the sight and suddenly wished he hadn't had such a big breakfast that morning. A sudden crunching of stone moving against stone made them all jump back. The stone wall in front of them started to slide down into the ground, revealing not a room of coffins lining the walls, but a staircase leading down deep into the ground farther then they could see.

"Well, that's not threatening at all," Vlad said flatly then gave Anna a concerned glance. "Are you alright to continue?"

Anna nodded, staring down the staircase; he must have been worried since what happened at the mansion ruins, "I'm fine. Let's do this."

With that, they cautiously started down the staircase.


	9. Chapter 9

Phantoms of Amity Park

Chapter 9

Anna led the way down, letting her ectoplasmic energy glow around her uninjured hand to light their way. The staircase seemed to go down forever, reaching points where it would turn and continue down like a stairwell; wherever this led, it was right below them. After what seemed like an hour of decent, they were starting to doubt if it ever came to an end. That was until a large doorway came into view ahead.

It was a large room, carved out of the very rock and earth. The ceiling must have reached 20 feet or more above their heads, the room itself similar to a large cathedral-like hallway. Pillars lined the way to the end, holding up what must have been an extremely heavy ceiling. Each pillar was circled by dozens of candles which had burned out long ago. Upon closer inspection of the pillars as they made their way down to the end, they found that disturbing images were carved into the stone; images of sacrifices and dark rituals. Danny decided to keep his eyes on the floor after catching site of one particularly gruesome image.

At the end of the room was a raised platform with a rectangular stone table set upon it, the table about five feet long. On each corner of the table was a burned down candle, in the very center a large leather bound book, and an even larger dark stain that was set deep into the stone itself. Against the far wall was what appeared to be a large throne with a high back; it was a menacing thing, made of black stone, inlaid with precious gems, and human bones. Coffins were built into the back wall, names and dates on plaques under each one. There was an empty hole where a coffin was supposed to go, a blank plaque underneath it. Anna's energy cast a sinister glow over the scene.

"What a crazy room," Danny said. "What do you think this place was for?"

No one answered. Vlad was keeping his eyes on Anna, who was going for the table, he followed. Of all the things they could have found down here, this was probably one of the worst, and he was worried about Anna's emotional and mental stability. He watched as she ran a hand over the cover of the book.

"Anna?" Vlad placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

She didn't look at him, "The energy in this place is so strange, I've never felt anything like it; dark, very dark. And this book hasn't aged; the leather's just as pliant and soft as the first day it was stretched. But it must be nearly 500 years old by now."

She opened the cover, the parchment clean, considering the timeframe, with a message written in black ink upon it. The message read:

We first few of the Van Ratten's hence forth pledge our lives and souls to the great demon Mammon; lord of greed. In return for our great achievements and gains of money and power, the patriarchs shall sacrifice their youngest born to Mammon before reaching their sixteenth birthday, insuring the continuation of our wealth and lineage. If we do not, then Mammon shall do as he sees fits as retribution for our misjudgment.

Vlad and Danny read the message over Anna's shoulder then looked at each other; both their eyes were wide with shock and disbelief. Surly demons didn't really exist, did they? They were just stories told to scare people from doing obviously bad deeds, right? But from the look on Anna's face and the way her hands were shaking, perhaps the truth was different.

She slowly turned the page, then the next, then the next. It was a record book, a complete record of every member of the Van Ratten family over the 300 years it existed; names, birth dates, marriage dates, death dates, and a fourth column that only had a single date in it for a single person once every marked generation, date of sacrifice. Generations were marked with the naming of the new patriarch, the term _patriarch_ being added before their name to mark their advancement.

Danny took a step back from the table, his face white, "Then that stain on the table is…"

Vlad swallowed, "Blood."

Anna was still turning pages, until she reached the final page with writing on it. She rested both her hands on the table, bowing her head.

"Don't, there's really nothing that can be said. My family made a deal with a demon and that's what caused all of this. There are no excuses."

"You can't be serious," Vlad said. "Demon's don't exist. Their just fake monsters used to scare children and adults from doing bad things. Making them believe that they'll go to some kind of hell if they commit a particular sin."

"That's just it, they do exist."

"What?!" Danny exclaimed.

Anna had to sit and rest her legs; otherwise they were going to give out. She turned and sat on the step of the platform, fisting a hand in her hair. The silence was deafening in that room as Anna gathered her thoughts. Finally she looked up, Vlad and Danny had moved to stand in front of her.

"You've been to the ghost realm," she finally said. "How would you describe it?"

"A void," was Danny's immediate answer, but then he stopped and put some actually thought into it. "No, feels more like a giant tube or something, but it doesn't have any actually boundaries, at least none that I've been able to find. If I fly straight in one direction, I just fly for what seems like forever."

Vlad would have said something about Danny's poor choice of words, but Anna was first to speak.

"You could say that. The ghost realm may not seem to have any boundaries, but it does, two in two specific directions." She began to explain. "I'll tell it to you the same way Clockwork told it to me. The ghost realm is more like a glass bottle than anything else, a bottle filled with liquids and oils that have split into layers. The middle two layers have started to intermingle and bleed into each other, where you can travel between them as you wish. This is the area where you go to whenever you enter the ghost realm, where ghosts and their stronger counterparts, like Pariah and Nightmare, live. A long time ago, these areas were separate, but not anymore."

Anna continued, "At the very bottom is a level that has been quarantined for centuries, long before I was created. The Observers watch over the barrier, repairing any cracks or holes as they appear so that the creatures that live behind it don't escape into the ghost realm or the living world. Some of the most powerful evil spirits live there, Demons."

"The Observers?" Vlad asked. "Don't they have a big enough job, watching over… well… everything?"

Anna shrugged, "You've only seen a handful of them at a time, but there are actually hundreds of them. The few that you've seen are the ones that actually watch over everything. The rest watch over the barrier, making sure it stays intact. If the demons ever get loose then we're doomed."

"Then how did Mammon get out in the first place?" Vlad rubbed his chin. "With that many observers watching the barrier at the same time, it would be impossible for even one demon to escape."

Anna got to her feet and turned back to the table, turning the pages of the large book back to the first page, "I'm starting to suspect that he had some help."

"Help?" Danny asked.

Anna turned to face them, a hand still on the book, "Back during the time that this message would have been written, knowledge of the ghost realm, especially to those who were looking for it, would have more readily available. Before technology, humans had more of a connection to the world around them, as a result, more of a connection to the ghost realm. It wouldn't be stretch of the imagination to assume that my ancestors could do something like… summon a willing spirit from the ghost realm, especially if they had its name."

"You mean a séance? Like on TV?" Danny asked.

"…Not exactly," Anna didn't elaborate. "You would be surprised how much the names of specific demons appear in religious texts. It was a wonder things like this didn't happen more often; most of the time the people who tried just had the wrong name or tried to be clever and just made one up. It's amazing how simple it is to pick one out of the bible and summon it, just as long as you're willing to make a deal with it."

Vlad hesitated, glancing at the book, "The youngest born…"

Anna looked down, biting her bottom lip, "Must have been the price Mammon wanted us to pay. Father was the patriarch when the fire happened, I still remember him like I had just seen him yesterday. He loved all of us, spoiled us even! He took us all to see the ocean once when Devon was seven; silly man grabbed me and Devon and jumped into the water with us. It was hard to believe sometimes that he was a business man and plantation owner."

Vlad's worry eased a bit when she laughed softly as she remembered her father, feeling his heart swell at the sound, but her laugh was strained and somewhat forced, "but he didn't sacrifice Devon."

Anna's laughter subsided, "No, he didn't; Devon had turned sixteen the month before the fire. I do remember something strange my father had said the day before Devon's birthday. It was storming and late, father was going out. Devon and I saw him out, begging him not to go. He had only smiled and said to Devon, _do not worry, I will protect you_, and left. I had thought it was strange then, but it never came up again after that day. I just put it out of my mind. He must have come here to see the demon and try to break the contract."

"Guess we see now what the result of refusing to pay your quota to a demon is," Vlad commented, then immediately regretted it when Anna's face fell.

"We do, but what now? The demon tried to wipe out my family to take revenge on my father and failed. Now it's going to come for you, Danny, and your mother and sister."

"We beat it!" Danny said enthusiastically. "There's three of us and one of it, right?"

"Problem is that this demon has been in our world for over 500 years, feeding, in a sense, off of people like my ancestors who desire wealth and power. Who knows how powerful it's gotten since I died?"

"What other options do we have? Is there anyone else that can fight them?" Danny asked.

"Well, I've only ever heard of one kind of spirit that's been able to defeat demons. The very top of the ghost realm is where the most holy and chastened spirits live, angels."

"Angels exist too?" Vlad questioned.

"Can't have a great force of evil without a great force of good," she explained. "The worlds works off balance, remember?"

"Like how our world exists because the ghost realm exists?" Danny asked. "If one is destroyed, then the other is too?"

"Exactly, and other things," Anna continued. "Right and wrong, pain and pleasure, man and woman; balance has existed since the worlds were first created. Only chaos would exist without balance, too much good or too much evil would result in an unbalance or an unexisting world."

"Then all we need is to get these… angels… to go after this Mammon demon and all our problems are solved," Danny stated hopefully. "We distract him and they put him back, simple!"

"It isn't quite that simple, never is really," Anna almost didn't want to say. "That section of the ghost realm is shut off as well."

"Why!? Who would shut out the only beings capable of protecting the world?" Vlad didn't even try to hide his frustration.

"The angels did it to themselves." Shocked silence followed, "No one knows the exact reason. I asked the observers once if they knew why; they suspected it was because the angels had lost faith in us, in the humans they were meant to protect and serve."

"Lost… faith…?" Danny asked.

Anna shrugged, shaking her head, "No one has been in contact with them for centuries, so no one knows if that's the truth or not. The observers claim that it is, but if there's no proof, no one believes them. That and they give no reason, no explanation as to why. All we have is the observers' word to go by; too many pieces missing from the puzzle, if you know what I mean."

"So we're on our own then?" Vlad asked.

"Afraid so," Anna answered. "Just the three of us, against a demon who we don't even know how powerful it is or what powers it has."

Suddenly, the odds seemed alarmingly stacked against them. Anna turned and looked down at the book again, before using the energy she had in her hand and set fire to it. The action was so sudden that Danny and Vlad jumped back involuntarily, but said nothing, didn't question it. They stood there and watched it burn in silence, watched as the last remaining evidence of the Van Ratten family went up in smoke and ash.

ooooo

They didn't leave until that book had become nothing but a pile of ashes on the stone table. Their eyes stung as they exited the mausoleum, having grown used to the darkness. It had grown later in the day then they thought, the sun now getting ready to set. If they attempted to fly back to Amity Park now, they would be making most of the journey in pitch blackness, no visible landmarks or city lights to guide them.

Vlad glanced at Anna out of the corner of his eye and his heart ached. She hadn't said very much since she had set the book aflame. Danny was talking to her, trying to stay hopeful, but the anxiety was clearly written on his face and his words were having no effect on her. Vlad felt the anxiety too, but not for Maddie like he had expected. Here he had found Anna, now there was a risk of losing her to some demon. It angered him; he couldn't let it happen, not when he was on the verge of finally find happiness. But first thing was first, they would be useless against a demon if they were tired and stressed, and Anna's hand had not been treated yet.

It took some convincing to get Danny to agree find somewhere to sleep for the night. He had to bluntly explain his reasoning for the boy to understand, but Vlad understood the boy's hesitance. Danny wanted to get home as soon as possible, for his mother; but the boy would be useless if he was tired and couldn't concentrate. So finally Danny mumbled a _fine_ and they were off.

Vlad chose the motel, a quiet, clean, secluded place in the countryside where Anna could sleep and not be bothered. He rented three rooms, so they could each have their privacy. Anna took her key and went off to her room without a word.

"I'm worried," Danny said as they watched her round the corner.

"I'd be more worried if you weren't," Vlad turned to the lady behind the counter. "Do you have a first aid kit I could borrow?"

The lady smiled and reached under the desk, pulling out a red box, and handing it to him. Vlad nodded in thanks and he walked away, Danny following.

"You're going to go see her?"

"Obviously, what do you think this is for? I told her I was going to treat her hand, so I'm going to."

Danny seemed to think for a moment, looking up at the older man. He was thinking back to everything he had seen of the man that day, his actions toward Anna, the obvious displays of affection.

"You love her," It was a statement, not a question.

Vlad stopped walking and looked back at Danny, "What would make you think that, Daniel?"

"I'm a sixteen, not stupid. I saw how you acted with her today."

"I don't see how who I decide to care for is any of your business."

"Oh please! First my Mom, now Anna, who is my Great Aunt by the way; I think it is my business."

Danny's argument did have a point. Vlad gave a frustrated sigh and rubbed his forehead with his free hand.

"You don't think I've been thinking about this? I've been thinking of nothing else for days. There's so much to consider, it's a more complicated situation then you seem to think. And now with all this…what am I doing, talking about this to a child?"

Danny raised an eyebrow, "Does it have to be complicated?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm just saying, if you love her, everything else shouldn't matter. You should be able to put all that aside and just want to be with her."

Vlad blinked at the boy, "That was oddly adult of you."

"I am sixteen! I'm not a child anymore."

Vlad chuckled, "Whatever you say, Daniel."

Danny turned and started towards his own room, but stopped and turned back around, "While I'm being honest here, I didn't want to hate you, you know? I hated you because you were after Mom and trying to ruin my family."

"Why tell me this now?"

"Cause if you're with Anna, I can hate you just because you've got the biggest ego in Amity Park and you're trying to take over the world."

"Who says I'd be trying to take over the world if I had Anna? I wouldn't have a reason to anymore, would I?"

"Even better! Then I actually have an excuse to watch a Packers game with you."

With that, Danny left, Vlad's mouth hanging open. Was that really all it took? Was it really that simple? Or had he just been doing it the complicated way all this time and just needed to wait for Anna?

Vlad looked down at the first aid kit, feeling like a fool. Danny was right, on all counts and tonight may be the last night he could do anything about it. Tomorrow they would be going straight back to Amity Park, and who knew what would be waiting for them there. Whatever decision he was going to make regarding his feelings for Anna, he would have to make them tonight. He may not get another chance.

He continued to her room and knocked lightly on the door. There was a shuffling from inside, the sound of the bolt being drawn back, and the door opened slightly. Anna peeked around the edge of the door.

"I apologize if I woke you," Vlad said. "You're hand; it needs to be bandaged properly."

He showed her the first aid kit. She looked at it then down at her hand and nodded, opening the door the rest of the way so he could come inside. The room was reasonably sized for the amount of money he had spent on it; full sized bed, dresser with a small TV on it, a window with a table and two chairs situated in front of it, and its own bathroom. Not what he would have preferred for her, but it would have to do for now; he could spoil her with her with luxuries once everything was resolved. He motioned for her to sit in one of the chairs and she did. He moved the other chair next to her and sat down as well, opening the kit.

He held out his hand, "Here, let me see."

She gave him the crudely badged hand, and watched as he unwrapped the handkerchief he had wrapped around it earlier. The sour look on his face said everything.

"I don't think it's infected, but it's definitely dirty," Vlad reached into the kit and pulled out a bottle of antiseptic wash. "Sorry, this is going to sting."

Anna didn't flinch; she kept staring out the window, her mind somewhere else. Vlad would catch her looking at him every once in a while as he worked. The moment was more awkward than he was used to.

"There," he said as he secured the wrapping with medical tape. "It's not the best. I'm not a medical professional or anything, but it should work."

Anna only nodded as he packed up the extra supplies. When he was done, she noticed that he didn't move to leave. She looked at him.

"Anna, you haven't said a word since you disposed of that book. Please say something, if only to ease my mind and assure me that you're not going to have an emotional breakdown when I leave this room."

She blinked at him then looked down, folding her hands in her lap, "I'm sorry. I… I'm scared, Vlad."

"Scared?"

Anna nodded, "I've never gone up against anything like this before. Clockwork and the observers had told me about demons before, but I never thought I'd ever have to face one; especially this one. Clockwork must have foreseen this and made sure I was as well trained as possible, that I had as much experience as possible. But it's different now, there's so much more at stake than just me; Danny, Maddie, Jasmine. If I fail, three of my kin will lose their lives because of me."

"What makes you think you're doing this alone?"

Anna's head whipped up, the statement so blunt and matter of fact that it took her by surprise, "What?"

Vlad narrowed his eyes at her, "If you seriously think I'm going to let you fight that thing on your own, you're not as smart as I thought you were."

"And you're an idiot if you think I would let you fight with me! I'm not putting you at risk. I've waited for you for 200 years! I'm not going to risk losing you after all this time. I'm not giving you a choice in the matter."

"I've already chosen. There's nothing you can do to change my mind."

"Why?! Do you want to die?!"

"Might as well! If I lose you I might as well be dead!"

Vlad didn't mean for it to come out quite that way, but Anna seemed to somewhat understand what he was trying to say. Her face turned a bright pink and she couldn't help but look away again.

Vlad swallowed the lump in his throat; this was it, now or never. He opened his mouth to speak, but Anna beat him to it.

"Vlad, I know a lot has happened in the last week, maybe too much too fast. But we may be coming upon the final confrontation and I might not live through it…"

"Anna."

She held her hand up, stopping whatever he was going to say, "I'm not saying I will, but if I do, I don't want to go without knowing how you feel… towards me. I don't want to have any more regrets."

"That's actually why I came to see you. I'd been thinking about things ever since I…" He stopped then diverted his sentence, "Ever since what happened in my lab. You're right, about everything. I was a fool. If I had met you sooner, none of it would have happened."

"You don't know that," Anna's smile was small, but the words made her feel better none the less.

"You're right, I don't. I had my head suck so far up my own… I couldn't see that I was merely fooling myself. I remember what you told me a week ago, do you?"

Anna shook her head, not sure what he was referring to.

"You said that if I truly loved Maddie, I would care more about her happiness then my own. Such an idea had never crossed my mind. I had only ever thought of myself, it'd been like that for 20 years, so you can understand how awkward it is when I suddenly start worrying about someone other than myself. Perhaps I am a fruitloop like Daniel says; maybe I have finally lost my mind! It sure does feel that way."

Vlad had placed a hand on his face, trying to cover his embarrassment, the other resting on the table. He uncovered his face when he felt Anna place a hand on his; it was warm and gentle.

"Dear, you're rambling," she laughed.

"I am, aren't I? Suppose I should get to the point before this gets even more uncomfortable. I do care about you Anna, more than I've cared about anyone. It's hard for me to put it into words. If I was to lose you, I don't know what I'd do. You've grown to mean so much to me."

Anna's smile was happier then he'd ever remembered seeing. He could hardly believe he was the one to cause it. Suddenly her arms were around his neck and she was hugging him, face buried into his neck. The shock wore off quickly and he wrapped his arms around her, closing his eyes and heaving a contented sigh.

"Thank you," he heard her mumble against his neck.

"Thank me?" he pushed her away enough so he could look at her properly. "I should thank you. Just, please don't die. I was telling the truth. If you die…"

Anna stopped him by placing a finger on his lips, "I can't promise that and you know that. I don't know what'll happen tomorrow. But whatever does happen, we have to be able to face it, no matter what. For now, we've found each other again and that's made me happy enough for ten more lifetimes. Let me spend tonight with you without worrying about what's going to happen tomorrow. I can't bear to think about it anymore."

Vlad took her hand in his and moved it aside, "I think I can agree to that."

He pulled her back into the embrace and didn't stop holding her until the sun came up the next morning.


	10. Chapter 10

Phantoms of Amity Park

Chapter 10

Danny felt like he was going to vomit. Whatever had happen between Vlad and Anna last night, it was obvious that Vlad had taken his advice. The two were in front of him, flying very close together; exchanging glances that made him want to gag. He was only thankful his room had not been in the same hallway as theirs.

But one look at Anna made him hold back his childish tendencies. Anna's flying was only as he could describe as _lighter_, a huge smile plastered on her face. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked over at Vlad. Even Vlad had been acting differently, almost… nicer. Not a single insult or unsavory comment made during breakfast that morning.

Well, perhaps one; informing him that he was going to start looking up the airing schedule for the next Packers game.

Anna had giggled. Apparently Vlad had filled her in on their conversation they had had before going to see her. Danny only scowled, but it was half-hearted. Anna looked genuinely happy for the first time since he'd met her. So did Vlad.

The flight seemed to take less time than it had yesterday. They were already passing the "Welcome to Amity Park" sign. Early afternoon, the city was buzzing with life. The pier in the distance was a alive with activity, ferris wheel spinning slowly, the roller coaster running it's carts filled with excited passengers up and down its many hills and loops. It was a usual Saturday, but Danny's was their first stop; checking on his mother and father was the priority.

The Ops Center came into view, large and looming over the other buildings; the smaller houses seeming to shrink away in its intense metal glare. Danny was about to heave a sigh of relief, until the rest of the house came into view. Danny would have screeched to a halt if he hadn't been flying. Vlad and Anna stopped at about the same time.

The entire left side of the house was like charcoal, black dust and chunks falling from the walls. Danny started flying down in a panic, but Vlad grabbed him. He turned to yell, to scream at the man. But before he could, Vlad pointed down at the street. Danny looked where he was pointing to see people gathered there, fire trucks and police cars lining the road. Among the people were his mother, father, and… sister talking to a police officer.

"Come on," Anna motioned to the alley across from the house.

They landed and changed back to their normal forms. Danny didn't wait till the others were ready; he took off towards his family. The street was blocked off, so there was no worry about traffic.

"Mom!" He yelled.

Maddie Fenton turned toward her son, her expression changed from worry to happiness. Danny ran into his mother and she hugged him.

"Oh Danny! I'm so glad you're okay. Thank goodness you were at Tucker's!" She said, hugging him so tight Danny felt like he couldn't breathe, but he didn't mind.

Danny managed to wiggle himself out of her hug after a few minutes, "Mom, what happened? What's Jaz doing here?"

"I had a long weekend from school, so I decided to come home," Jaz answered his questions as their mother opened her mouth; she noticed the panic in her brother's eyes. "What's the matter?"

Danny shook his head, "I'm just, glad everyone's okay."

Vlad and Anna had worked their way forward through the crowd. When they finally reached them, Vlad immediately started giving his condolences for the event and offered to cover the repairs for them. Maddie was suspicious, of course, but Vlad merely shook his head and insisted.

Anna's attention was somewhere else, however. Upon coming in closer proximity to the house, an unnerving feeling had washed over her; like something dark was watching her from one of the burned out windows, a darkness like what she had felt in the mausoleum. The demon was in the house, and Vlad and Danny couldn't tell. That, along with an even more unnerving question; where were Danny's friends?

"Um! Vlad… uh…" She rushed to Vlad's side, praying that her own panic was not as evident as Danny's had been. "Maybe you should take the Fenton's to your place for right now. They've had such a difficult time and need a place to stay until the repairs are finished and you have more than enough room."

All attention had moved to Anna. Vlad was looking into Anna's eyes. She tried to remain calm, tried not to hint that something was bothering her.

"Alright," He didn't sound convinced as he took out his phone and started dialing for a car.

"Anna," Danny went to her, beginning to whisper but was cut off.

"You and Vlad go take your family to his mansion and meet me back here later," she whispered as Vlad was on the phone.

"But…"

Anna smiled, "I'll be fine for a while, don't worry."

"Excuse me," Danny's mother had walked up to her. "I'm sorry, but have we met?"

Anna almost took a step back in surprise, "Oh! No, I'm sorry. I'm Anna Van Ratten, Mr. Master's secretary."

"Secretary… right," Maddie looked back at her old classmate, the suspicion still clear on her face, then looked back at the younger woman with a smile. "I'm sorry, you just look so familiar. I just can't place where I've seen your face before."

"The mirror…" Danny said under his breath.

"What was that dear?" Maddie asked as Anna elbowed him.

"Nothing! She's… uh… lived here for a few weeks. You probably just passed her on the street."

"That's probably it!" Maddie said and turned away as Jack called her over to where he was, still talking with one of the police officers.

"Nice cover," Anna said sarcastically.

"Nice elbow to the side," Danny rubbed his ribcage. "You weren't this violent before you slept with Vlad."

Anna elbowed him again.

It wasn't long after Vlad hung up his phone that two black cars showed up to the scene and the Fenton's piled inside them; he and Danny in one and the rest in the other.

Before it drove off, Vlad leaned out the window, "Anna, don't do anything reckless."

She just smiled, "How could I? I'm just standing here waiting for you two to get back. How much trouble can I get in doing that?"

Vlad still wasn't convinced, "Anna…"

She laughed, "You worry too much. Just go!"

Anna leaned down and placed a quick kiss on his lips before taking a step back. There was nothing else to be said. Vlad sat back and rolled up his window as the car drove away.

Danny looked up at the older man, "Will she really be okay?"

Vlad shook his head, "No. I saw the look on her face. We need to get back there as soon as possible."

"The demon…"

This time, Vlad nodded, "It's still in the house, and she's going in there without us."

ooooo

Anna watched as the cars drove away, doubting that she had fooled Vlad at all. She had to protect him, him and Danny. Anna turned to the half burned house. The dark presence she felt was still there, though now she could feel that its full attention was on her. She had to get inside, but there were too many people around out here for her to walk through the front door.

She returned to the alley from which they had first landed, made sure that she had not been followed and that no one was watching before changing into her ghost form. Becoming invisible, she flew over the heads of all the bystanders and emergency personnel to faze through the front door.

The investigation was wrapping up, teams of men in special heat protection suits packing up their boxes of gear and evidence. Anna waited until they all filed out of the house than waited still until the hordes of emergency vehicles started driving away and the pedestrians lost interest and started leaving.

She landed and reappeared in what would have been the living room of the Fenton home, now a gray and black husk of what it was. The floor made disconcerting crunches and groans under her feet as she walked. The dark presence seemed to be coming from all around her.

"Where are you?!" She called out. "I know you're here, I can feel you! Come out and face me!"

There was a noise from behind her, from under the staircase, and she whipped around. A figure appeared; a boy just barely Anna's height, about 16 years old, with very short black hair, blue eyes, and wearing a 18th century brown cotton suit. Anna took a step back then another, shaking her head in disbelief.

"What's the matter?" The boy asked with a kind smile. "You are acting very strange."

"N-no," Anna nearly lost her balance on a burnt coffee table. "You can't be…"

"Sister, don't be silly," The boy laughed and stretched his arms out wide. "Of course it is me! I have missed you so much. Come; give me a hug, Sister."

Anna caught herself taking a step forward, a fog starting to cover her mind. She cried out, clutching her ears and shutting her eyes tight, trying to shut out the voice of her baby brother.

"NO! You're not Devon! Shut up demon!"

The boy's smile fell, as did his arms; the tone he spoke with next was laced with something foreign and dark, "You are so cruel. Do you not want to be with Father and Mother again? With our brothers and sister?"

Anna looked up. The boy who looked like her brother was unbuttoning the jacket of his suit. There was a smirk on his face as he pulled back the clothing, revealing a revolting sight that made Anna throw her hands up to cover her mouth.

The boy's chest was bare, but transparent, like it had been composed of clear plastic. Instead of organs and blood, there were what looked like wisps of smoke swirling around inside. He looked down at his chest and poked at the skin. It gave with too much ease and a sound that made Anna want to be sick.

"Come on now, come out and say hello," he said.

After withdrawing his finger, the wisps inside his chest started to move more rapidly. Faces started appearing, floating past the window of skin, twisted in pain and anguish. Anna did fall backwards this time, shock and horror written on her face. She knew those faces; she'd grown up with them. It was her family; her father, mother, and all of her siblings. Suddenly, the demon was over her, the face of her little brother twisted, the smile unnatural, too wide eyes filled with madness.

"Do you not want to join them? Have you not spent too long alone in this world without them? Come now, they quite like it in there, you will like it too."

"No," Anna tried to back away, but no matter what distance she tried to put between them, he was always in her face.

"You need not worry; the others will join you soon. They will need to return soon enough and then my collection will be complete at last."

"I won't let you…"

"Get away with that? What makes you think you can? You are weak. You always have been weak. You were only able to save one member of your family. You could not save any of your siblings or your precious father. Your niece got away only because that man was there. If he had not been there, she would not have escaped my grasp and I would have had my vengeance sooner."

He grasped her jaw, his hand cold and clammy, the skin like leather, "But what does it matter now? Not only will I finally gain your soul, stronger than it originally was, but I will also have four more souls to gain. For that, I must thank you. Because of you, I will be much stronger. I was going to absorb you first, but now I have I much more… appealing situation in mind."

Anna couldn't move, frozen by fear. Tears were starting to leak from her eyes.

"I will save you for last, make you watch as I destroy or absorb everyone you have grown to love in this pathetic town until you are left with nothing again; First Daniel's idiotic little friends, then his family then himself. The reincarnation will be last. Him I will kill slowly and make you watch as his final breath leaves him again, just like before. You remember watching him die the first time; imagine how much it will hurt to watch him die all over again. You will be begging for death by the time I allow you to join the rest of your pathetic family within my body!"

Anna cried out, covering her ears again. She didn't want to listen, but the words tore through any defenses she may have put up over the years, tearing her apart from the inside.

"Anna!" A cry came out from somewhere.

There was the sound of someone hitting someone else than a crash and she felt herself being pulled back against someone. Anna opened her eyes, not realizing she had closed them. There was a hole in the wall across the room, a pile of charcoaled plaster marking where the demon had landed. Danny was in front of her in ghost form, face with an angry expression, hiding an obvious look of horror and disgust. Vlad was also there in ghost form; he was the one holding her, pressing her protectively against his chest.

"Sorry we're late," Danny said.

"No! You need to…!" Anna started, but Vlad interrupted her.

"We're not leaving, so don't even try. I only wish we had gotten here sooner so you didn't have to be in the same room with that thing for so long. You should have just waited for us to return like you said you would."

"I-I'm sorry," Anna said.

Vlad hugged her tight, comforting her.

"He's getting up!" Danny said suddenly.

The pile was shifting and opened, unveiling the boy shaped demon, now covered in black dust. There was rage now written on its face. It snarled like a wild animal.

"That was a mistake you will come to regret," It said.

"Mammon I take it?" Vlad asked. "You will be the one regretting your actions."

"Will I? That I highly doubt. You have not seen anything yet."

"First, where are Sam and Tucker?" Danny asked. "Mom and Dad hadn't seen them since yesterday. What'd you do with them?"

Mammon chuckled, pulling himself out of the pile and dusting himself off, "Safe, for now."

"Let them go and I promise I'll lessen your punches to the face by one," Danny said, maybe a little too arrogant.

Mammon started laughing, an unnerving sound, "You believe you have a chance? You are amusing."

"And you aren't?" Vlad asked. "What kind of demon looks like a child?"

Anna was pulling at his sleeve in panic, shaking her head. But it was too late, Mammon's laughter grew deeper, echoing around the burned out rooms around them.

"You think this is what I really look like?!" He said. "What fools! Why would I choose the form of her pathetic younger sibling? If you are truly dissatisfied, then I will show you what I truly look like."

Its skin started to bubble. Its body stretched, legs combining together into one limb; its torso inflating to an adult size. The clothes that the childlike form had been wearing tore and fell to the floor as it grew and morphed into something that should only exist in nightmares.

The creature it had transformed into had no legs, but a long, yellow snakelike, tail that started at the waist. It whipped and coiled across the floor, knocking debris and burnt furniture through walls with the force of its hits. From its waist to its neck, it seemed like a normal man. Sickly brownish skin was pulled too tight across its muscles. Sharp black spikes lined the way down its spine, its fingers ending in long sharp claws. Its head was truly horrifying. It was bald, ears long and pointed, two long black horns coming out of its forehead, eyes milky white with no sign of pupils, teeth that were sharp and pointed, and a long snakelike tongue that slithered out of its mouth when it opened.

"…Oh," Was the only thing that came out of Danny's mouth as he stumbled back to stand next to Vlad and Anna.

"Where is your arrogance now, hm? What is the matter boy?!"

Anna pulled herself from Vlad's grip with an almost audible gulp, Vlad's own fear making him hold her tight against him. She stood and stepped forward.

"You now? Don't make me laugh. Your legs can barely hold you, you are so scared. A moment ago I had you ready to submit and now you believe you are able to fight against me."

Anna gulped again; the words were still running through her head, the true and the untrue things that the demon had spoken, "I am afraid. I won't deny my fear. But if I ran now, I'd be giving up everything I've fought to get to, fought to protect. I can't do that; I can't let myself do that."

She clapped her hands together, summoning her weapon. She grasped it and held it ready.

"Either you die here or we both do. There will be no other options." Anna continued.

Mammon seemed amused, "The only options? We will see."

He brought forth his own weapon, but in a different manner; plunging his own hand deep into his own chest, the demon pulled out a similar weapon to Anna's own. It was a long, crooked stick with a large sharp bone arrowhead tied tight to the end.

"I would say this make us somewhat even," It was a blank statement, as if he said only to make her believe she had the upper hand.

Anna knew she had to be cautious. Ever since he took his actual form, the energy coming off of him was making her head feel like it was stuffed with cotton. They faced off; any moment one of them would strike.

Danny knelt next to Vlad, incessantly shaking his shoulder, saying that they had to do something. Vlad was sitting there, arm stretched out towards Anna. He wanted to grab her and pull her away, take her away from there and somewhere safe, where they could live and hide. But he knew this had to happen and he wasn't happy about it. He was just sitting there, like an idiot, waiting for the pin to drop.

And it did. Anna was first to attack. Danny stopped shaking the older man, attention drawn to what was happening. It became obvious that if Anna had been at full strength the night she had fought with Vlad, Vlad would have had a very painful and humiliating defeat.

Cotton mind aside, Anna calculated her moves to the best of her ability. Watching Mammon's entire form, which was not easy; his tail was a growing problem. She would swipe, he would dodge, and then that tail would come at her, each time from a different direction. As she could tell however, she was keeping him on his toes, not literally of course.

But there was a growing problem, she couldn't hit him! True, he wasn't landing any hits either. But she was changing her tactics with each new opening, just as she was trained. She was adapting to his annoying pattern of attack, which she would find to be her downfall. However, when she noticed, it was too late. Danny had noticed before her and cried out to warn her.

It seemed to happen in slow motion, to everybody. Anna dodged to the right, for another irritating downward tail swipe she thought was coming, but it never came. She never saw Mammon's weapon swing at her from the right, only felt the pain as it cut through layers of skin and muscle, helped by her momentum.

"Your own arrogance, my dear, is your downfall." Mammon said before withdrawing his weapon. "Toying with you is too much fun."

Anna cried out, her own weapon falling to the ground before disappearing. She clutched at her side, trying disparately to stop the bleeding. Her distraction was another mistake as Mammon's tail whipped around and collided with her left, careening her into the nonburnt portion of a wall. One of her arms hit it at an odd angle and her pain clouded mind could have sworn it heard something crack. She changed back to her normal form, her body sliding limply to the floor, where it lay in a heap, bleeding out. Her head had ended up laying in such a way that she saw the rest of the room.

Chaos was the only word applicable for what she saw unfold. Upon her hitting the wall, Vlad had quickly and clumsily gotten to his feet, Danny in tow, both rushing towards her. But they were stopped by another swipe of Mammon's tail, hitting them both in the stomachs and sending them flying backwards. They had hit the same wall Mammon had gone through earlier, but with much more force. Unconsciousness was immediate both changing back just as Anna had.


	11. Chapter 11

Phantoms of Amity Park

Chapter 11

Anna must have lost consciousness for a few moments. She opened her eyes and saw that things had changed. Mammon was still in his disgusting form, slithering around a group of bodies he had hanging from the ceiling; Sam, Tucker, Danny, and Vlad all tied together in a group and hanging from the creaking remains of a light fixture. All were awake and still alive. Alarmed, Anna tried to get up, but her arm wouldn't allow it, crunching painfully. She let out a whimper of pain, letting herself slump back down on the floor. Mammon heard her and turned, chuckling in amusement.

"Well, good to see you have rejoined us," he said. "I was afraid you had gone and died."

Everyone was calling out to her; panic, fear, all plain in their voices. Anna pulled herself onto her good arm, leaning on it as her broken one hung sickly. Her wound on her side had stopped bleeding, but the blood loss was making her light headed. She doubted if she could even stand, let alone change into her ghost form. She tried anyway, but her power only fizzled at her fingertips and dissipated. She had nothing to fight with. She was nothing more than a human now and what did a human have against a demon?

"Now I can continue with your torture." Mammon was continuing to talk as Anna was frantically thinking of something to do, some way to save them in her weakened state. "By my plan, you are first."

Mammon put the point of his weapon to Tucker's throat.

"Wait!" Anna screamed, causing them all to look at her.

Anna didn't have a plan, but she had to do something. The only thing she could think of was to appeal to the base nature of a demon. Anna pulled herself shakily to her feet and stumbled forward.

"I'll… I'll make you a deal," she said.

"A deal? What makes you think I would deal with you?" Mammon laughed. "I am planning to absorb your soul anyway."

"Isn't a soul more potent after you've dealed with it?" Anna asked, a long shot, but she had to try. "It's why you contracted with my family in the first place. An entire family of souls that are more potent because they agreed to sacrifice themselves to you. Wouldn't that be the same with mine? If you made a deal with me, my soul would become more potent, so you would become more powerful from just me then you would from Danny and his family."

"Hm," Mammon rubbed his chin with his free hand, the other still pointing his weapon at Tucker. "Your point has been made. What is this deal you are purposing?"

"My soul in return for theirs," Anna said. "You let everyone live; Sam, Tucker, Vlad, Danny, and his family and I will take their place."

That one sentence brought on new panic to everyone's yells, Vlad's especially. The look on his face, the tears running down his cheeks made Anna's heart ache. This was unfair and she knew it. But she wanted more for him to live then for them to die in this way. She smiled sadly at the man she loved, crying her own sad tears. Everyone's yells died down at seeing her like that; there was sad understanding on all their faces.

"You would really sacrifice yourself for these humans?" Mammon questioned. "Half of them you have never met, two of them questioned your nature, and one of them questioned your feelings until recently. You have no reason to give your life for these worthless maggots."

"I have every reason," Anna responded right away. "These are my family. These are my friends. This is the man I love. I would gladly sacrifice myself a hundred times over for them."

"Then you are a fool," Mammon glared at her.

Anna tried to laugh, but it hurt to do so and made her want to pass out again, "Then I'll wear that title with pride."

Anna held out her hand, offering a shake, "Deal?"

Mammon didn't move at first, contemplating the offer. Finally, he withdrew his weapon and slithered towards the broken woman.

"It is greedy of you to want to save them all," Mammon said.

"Funny that you would point that out, being the demon lord of greed. Do we have a deal?"

"…Deal," Mammon grasped her hand.

There was a tense moment then Mammon stabbed his weapon through Anna's chest. The yells and screams started up again. The weapon withdrew with a sickly squish and she fell forward to the floor.

"You can all quiet down, I will uphold my end of the deal," he slithered back and cut the ropes above their heads.

Their feet hit the ground and the ropes around them fell away. Vlad was first to run forward, running to Anna to turn her over and pull her up into his lap. Everyone followed him. Her skin was pasty white and becoming cold, she was no longer breathing.

"Anna," The name got stuck in his throat as he said it.

"Now leave," Mammon ordered. "Do not insult her sacrifice by staying longer."

Only glares met him. Danny, who had knelt down to check on Anna's body, stood, changing into his ghost form.

"What is this? You would insult her sacrifice by staying?" Mammon laughed. "She has protected you! Take your lives and leave. Besides, I doubt you would enjoy seeing what absorbing a soul entails. Especially since your precious Anna is involved."

"You won't touch her!" Danny screamed.

"Oh?"

Danny started running forward, screaming in rage, Sam and Tucker tried to stop him, "You will die fir…"

There was a rumbling, throwing Danny off balance and causing him to stop. The floor was shaking, lightly at first then growing in intensity as the seconds passed, and causing the rest of the house to shake. Dust and bits of wall and ceiling fell on them. Vlad leaned over Anna, shielding her body from the debris. A white glow was starting to come from somewhere, bright, blindingly so.

Vlad was first to notice the source, as he was leaning over it. He leaned back in alarm. Anna's body was glowing bright white and was now starting to float upwards slowly towards the ceiling. As her body left the floor, the rumbling stopped.

She pivoted until she was now straight in the air. The light grew too bright; everyone had shielded their eyes, no longer able to look straight at her. There was the sound of rustling, flapping, and the light finally dimed.

Anna was still there in midair, but not aided by ethereal light anymore. On her back was a pair of great white angelic wings. What she wore was the same as what was usually worn in her ghost form, but pure white. Her hair was her normal orange, up in her high ponytail and her eyes were open. In her hands she grasped her weapon, she was ready to fight.

"Anna?" Vlad whispered, hardly able to believe it. Just a moment ago she had been dead in his arms. Was this really her?

Mammon was not as pleased. He snarled and cried out in outrage.

"How are you alive?! I killed you! You were dead!"

"Now it's your turn," was all Anna said and she flew at him, weapon pointed straight at him.

It was like watching an eagle swoop and its dinner. Mammon was barely quick enough to dodge the oncoming assault. She landed and he attacked, but she didn't move. The attack seemed to hit, but then she attacked. Had he hit her at all? There was no wound, no sign of damage. What had happened to her?

Mammon was becoming blinded by his rage. He had dealed with her! Her soul belonged to him and for the second time he had been denied it. Who had done this? Who was responsible?

His distraction and rage worked against him. Suddenly, Anna had blinked behind him, a power she didn't have before, and stabbed downward, pinning his tail to the floor and making it so he couldn't slither away. Mammon cried out in pain and swung wildly at her. She caught his weapon, summoning another of her own with only one hand.

With one swift swing Mammon had no hands. The cries became screeches. Anna held both weapons now, her own and the demons. The evil one turned to ash in her hands. Mammon had crumpled to the floor in pain, the first time he had truly suffered any kind of defeat, floundering like a bleeding beached fish on the floor. It was a revolting sight.

Anna knelt and grasped his head in one of her hands, her touch burned him and he screeched in the added pain, "You poor disgusting creature. Stepped outside your boundaries and now look at you, nothing more than what you've always been. Now, release all those you have inside and go back to where you came from."

White fire spread from her hand to cover Mammon's entire wreathing form. As he burned, the wisps that were contained within him were released, floating up and through the ceiling above. A few stopped to float around Anna, caressing her head before continuing upward. When the fire finally died, there was nothing left of Mammon, undistinguishable from the piles of ash around where he had lay.

Anna stood and sighed.

Everyone had watched the display, unable to speak, both stunned and amazed. Anna turned to them now and took a headcount, all there, all safe. Her eyes trained on Vlad and she smiled and started forward.

A great flash of white light stopped her and they all were blinded briefly.

ooooo

When Anna opened her eyes, she was not in the burned living room of Danny's house. She was instead floating above the house, the city below frozen in time. Clockwork was with her.

"You!" She said surprised. "Did you do this?"

"Freeze time and bring you out here? Yes." Clockwork chuckled. "Give you those wings and your new powers. No. That I did not do, my student."

"What am I doing out here?" Anna asked.

"My superiors would like to meet with you," was all clockwork said, then looked up at the sky.

Anna raised an eyebrow at him then did the same. There were three bright lights coming down towards them from the sky. They stopped in front of her and took shape, each three different people, a child, an old man, and a young woman, all with pure white wings like Anna now had. When they started speaking, they spoke together as one.

"Anna Van Ratten, we honor you with our presence," they said.

"You're… angels… aren't you?" Anna asked. "Did you do this? Did you give me these powers?"

"We are," they answered. "And we did. Clockwork instructed us to watch you on this day at this time and make our ultimate choice regarding your fate. We were… impressed by your decision, just as we were 200 human years ago."

"So you brought me back then too?"

"No. We pulled you from Mammon's stomach and took you to clockwork. You had a choice to make then and you had chosen wisely."

"If I hadn't taken the offer back then?"

"Then you would have gone back to Mammon's bowels. The order of things must not be disrupted."

"But you disrupted it to bring me back the first time! What if I hadn't been brought back? What would have happened?"

"Time is complicated."

"You're saying there would have been another path? That Mammon would have been defeated another way? Or maybe Mammon wouldn't have come after Danny and his family at all? Things would have just gone as… planned?"

"Time is complicated."

Anna rubbed her temples, "You're telling me. This is all kinds of complicated."

"But that is not why we have come. Events have happened as they were supposed to in this time. We have come to offer you another choice."

"Another choice?"

"Yes. For your sacrifice, we offer you a place among us."

Anna blinked, "You mean, become an angel?"

Clockwork chuckled, "Technically you already are one, but this is the highest seat of power in the ghost realm. You would go back with them and live in their realm for the rest of time. You would be able to watch over all living humans from there and guide them."

"Why?"

The three angels looked at each other mournfully before answering, "We have been lost. We lost our faith many years ago have been unable to fulfill our duties to mankind for centuries. We need guidance. We need you to teach us how to watch again, how to guide."

"Why me?"

"You have shown what we have forgotten how to do; a pure and unaltered ability to protect your fellow man, no matter how they had treated you in the past, no matter the sacrifice."

"And my other option?"

The angels seemed surprised she was even asking about it, "You can return to earth and protect from the ground. You will, of course, maintain your new powers as a gift from us."

Anna looked down at Danny's home, thinking about everything she had gone through over the years, everything she had given up and everything she had gained.

She didn't need to think long.

She turned to the angels with a large smile, "Okay! I've made my choice."

ooooo

The light faded. When vision finally returned to their eyes, they viewed a very unusual sight.

Anna was still there, walking towards them in her new white dress. But her wings were melting off her back. What was like white ink splattered onto the floor and spread over blackened floorboards like paint on an invisible paintbrush. It spread up the walls, under their feet, up the stairs, farther then they could see until it covered all the damage Mammon had caused. Then the white cracked and chunks of it fell away and dissolved, revealing unburnt, undamaged walls underneath.

As the last bit of melting wing dripped of her back, she ran the last few steps and into Vlad's arms. Vlad's only reaction was to hold her. She was warm and alive.

"Anna," was all he said as he hugged her tight.

"What just happened?" Danny asked, watching as his house was repaired right before his eyes.

"I turned them down," Anna said into Vlad's chest.

The rest of the group looked at each other, confused. Vlad pushed her back so that they could all see her and hear her.

"Turned who down?" He asked.

Anna was crying happy tears, "The angels came to me and offered me a place with them but I turned them down. I told them that'd rather be here with all of you then up in some stupid cloud world where nothing ever happens."

They all laughed, Anna too, almost choking on her tears.

Vlad pulled her into another hug, "You won't be alone again, I promise. No matter how long you live, you'll always have someone…"

"I'll have you," Anna interrupted. "For the next forty years of my life."

Vlad pulled back again, confused.

Anna continued, "I gave up my immortality and my powers, all of them. I'm just a normal human now."

"Anna, why?" Danny asked.

"I've spent so long fighting I've forgotten what it was like to live normally; to just have a family and friends. I don't want to fight anymore." She explained.

Vlad took her hands, still so much like the age she appeared to be, but looking into her eyes betrayed her true age. They looked tired, too mature for a 25 year old. Vlad tightened his grip on her hands. There was no threat anymore, no one to take her away. He could do now what he had wanted to do in his first life.

"Anna?" Suddenly there was a lump in his throat.

"Hm?" She looked up at him, as if expecting the question, expecting it for 200 years.

"Will you marry me?"

There was that smile, the one he loved, "I'm surprised you have to ask. Of course I will!"

There was no chorus of gagging noises as they embraced to kiss. A moment that had to wait over 200 years deserves its quiet reverie.

"Anna, I love you."

"And I never stopped loving you."

There was a pause.

"You realize this means you're fired."

Anna laughed.

ooooo

Ten months passed and there was a new picture on Vlad's desk. He swears that he looks at it more than he does his actual work. It's the most recent picture of Anna, taken in the front parlor of his… no, their mansion; a candid picture, yes, taken when she wasn't paying attention, but beautiful.

She was sitting in the bay window reading a book. It was one of the few mornings she didn't immediately put her hair up and she was still in her long blue nightgown. The title of the book was clearly visible, "Motherhood for the First Time Mom." Also clearly visible, was the eight month along baby belly she was sporting.


End file.
